The Art of Music Initiative

 Jamaica is world-renown for the talent of its musicians. Reggae/dancehall artistes are sought after to perform in concerts around the world. While this is the music for which the island is most well-known, there are outstanding Jamaicans performing in every musical genre on the international stage. As much as audiences at the  Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival look forward to the big international stars that are presented by the Festival, no line-up would be complete without the stellar Jamaican performers such as Monty Alexander, Toots and the Maytals, Beres Hammond, Shaggy etc.

As phenomenal as the number of outstanding Jamaican musicians is, even more incredible is the wealth of untapped talent that resides in the island. Those who succeed do so against the odds of poverty, insufficient or no training and ignorance of the music business. Turnkey Productions, the owners and producers of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival realised this potential and in 2005 introduced the Art of Music Initiative through two main activities:

•  A series of auditions held in Kingston and Montego Bay, at which upcoming talents performed for audiences and judges in the hope of being chosen to perform on the Talent Stage at the Festival.  In this first year 10 bands were chosen from across Jamaica. In the second year, an international component was added which brought young talent from five US cities to take part in the Festival.
• The staging of a workshop during the Festival period, at which seasoned performers shared their experiences with persons interested in pursuing their talent and careers in the musical profession further.

With the increasing popularity of the auditions, and the emergence so far of several new artistes who got their debut on the Art of Music Talent stage, Turnkey Productions now plans to extend, deepen and enrich the Art of Music audition component of the Festival with an extended band search and promotional tour starting with an online voting component, moving into a series of elimination and voting rounds. This will be conducted both locally and internationally.

Bands will be able to enter online via jamaicajazzandblues.com by uploading their material. These entries will be put up for voting by online votes and texting. A total of 48 bands will be selected from online entries to compete at live auditions over the four month period.  At the end of the audition process a total of 12 bands will be selected to perform on the Jamaica Jazz and Blues 2011 Talent Stage.

The winning bands will also have the opportunity to perform across on the Art of Music Live Promotional Concert Tour. Not only will this create awareness for the winning bands but it will also encourage fans of the bands to accompany them to the festival.

 Call for bands will go out soon via email, press ads and on our website.

Do you have what it takes to rock the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Talent Stage?!

Keep checking www.jamaicajazzandblues.com for updates.