Ocho Rios International JazzFest

Ocho Rios International JazzFest performers

Ocho Rios Festivals

Ocho Rios celebrates many festivals through the year, but its most famous for Ocho Rios International Jazz Festival. This event is the oldest jazz festival in the region, with events in multiple venues from Ocho Rios to Kingston. Visitors can experience a Jazz vacation with live shows featuring leading local and international jazz acts. The best artists and compositions from Jamaica and other Caribbean Islands take place in this festival.

The Jamaica Ocho Rios Jazz Festival started in 1991 as an experimental one-day event called at the time The Ocho Rios “Mini” Jazz Festival. It began wit the purpose to promote & preserve the “Classical Black Music and America’s First Art Form.” It was produced and directed by Musician-Journalist Sonny Bradshaw in an effort to redefine the Jamaican musical landscape and enhance entertainment tourism for entire families. With that in mind, Fathers Day was chosen to launch for the event at Carib Inn Beach (Ocho Rios). He attracted other Jamaican musicians including his wife, Myrna Hague. She is a singer, actress, journalist, vocalist with the Jamaica Big Band and the Jazzmobile, member of the board of the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission, past tutor of the Jamaica School of Music, winner of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union Song Festival 1990. Many times Jamaica Music Industry Award winner for Jazz, Jamaica Federation of Musicians Award winner, and Special Merit Award, 1993.

Since 1996, the festival grew has grown to 8 days, featuring many of the greatest names in modern Jazz. It also boasts a Youth Programme, daily free concerts, a large-scale Photo Exhibition and simultaneous events going on in Kingston, Montego Bay, Negril, Runaway Bay and of course, Ocho Rios. The founders established a Jazz Hall of Fame recognizing those Jamaican and Caribbean Musicians who have distinguished themselves internationally, while contributing to the development of the Jazz art form.
ADDRES: 22 East Kings House Road, Kingston
PHIONE: 1-323-857-5358
WEBSITE: http://www.ochoriosjazzja.com/

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