Naniki Caribbean Jazz Safari to kick off with T. S. Monk and Afro-Italian Vocalist

T. S. Monk

(BRIDGETOWN – 31 December 2012) – The 2013 Naniki Caribbean Jazz Safari will kick off in Barbados with one of the great names in jazz and a vocalist from Italy with strong Barbadian ties at one of the island’s most historic venues.

Drummer T. S. Monk, the scion of one of the world’s most renowned jazz artistes, will be part of the opening night festival lineup at Charles Fort at the Hilton Barbados Resort on 17 January, 2013. Monk will lead his legendary quintet in the opening night concert and will share the stage with feature vocalist Alyson Williams.

The Naniki Caribbean Jazz Safari which runs from January 17 to 21 in Barbados has its next stop in Antigua on March 1st and 2nd, then St. Vincent on Easter Weekend and on to Grenada on April 26th & 27th.

Thelonius Sphere Monk III was born into music. His late father remains the second-most widely recorded jazz composer behind only Duke Ellington, and his style and brilliance as a pianist made him one of the giants of the musical world. T.S. III began to emerge from his famous father’s shadow at the age of 10 when Max Roach, the famous drummer and bandleader gave him his first drum set.

In the fifty-four years since, T. S. Monk has made his mark in jazz.

Monk has enjoyed a successful recording career including Monk on Monk “80th Anniversary Birthday Tribute to Thelonius Sphere Monk” featuring 20 guest artists including Arturo Sandoval, Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves and fellow Naniki Caribbean Jazz Safari headliner Nnena Freelon. The album received the New York Jazz Awards First Annual “Recording of the Year” award and Downbeats’ 63rd annual Album of the Year Reader’s Choice Award.

Patricia Lowe

Opening the concert on January 17th will be chanteuse Patricia Lowe who will be joined by Brazilian percussionist Gilson Silviera. Lowe, born in London of Barbadian parents, says that she feels a special responsibility as the opening act of the historic Naniki Caribbean Jazz Safari.

Speaking from her home in Turin, Italy where she has lived for the last twenty years, Lowe said ; “Given that I am going to be the opening group, I’m making sure that I do a good job. I want to make sure that everyone says ‘wow, I want to continue to see the rest of the concerts that are going to happen after Ms. Lowe,’ so I’m trying to put together a very good set of songs and just want to make sure that everybody goes away happy and that they take away something from the concert.”

Lowe, who performs extensively in Europe, has a lush, contralto voice that has been compared to jazz great Cassandra Wilson whom she describes as “My idol. I’ve listened to her so much that it probably comes out in me now.” She counts among her other musical influences such luminaries as Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Ella Fitzgerald.

The artiste says that she has recently explored the strong links between the people of Barbados and Ghana, tracing the history and music of the native Africans who were brought to the Caribbean and working it into her repertoire. This, she says has resulted in a sound that she calls “Afro-Jazz,” incorporating both her roots in Barbados and the African tradition with the jazz idiom.

The Naniki Caribbean Jazz Safari is endorsed by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation and sponsored by LIAT, the Barbados Tourism Authority, Department of Tourism for Antigua & Barbuda, the Frank Collymore Hall, the Grenada Tourist Board, the St Vincent & the Grenadines Tourism Authority, United Insurance, Embassy of United States, Hilton Barbados Resort, Jolly Beach Resort, Mount Cinnamon Resort, Spice Basket, Harrison’s Cave, The Travel House, Caribbean Super Station, The Observer and The Travelling Guitar Foundation.