Nevis — A UK based Nevisian jazz artist, Denise Gordon, is one of the artists lined up to perform at the inaugural Nevis Blues Festival that opened today(Thursday) at Oualie Bay, Nevis.
The festival is hosted by Oualie Beach hotel and it takes place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m.
Denise who was a guest artist at the official opening of the Nevis Performing Arts Centre (Nepac) says she wants to make Nevis feel good when she performs on Friday andSaturday. She loves to visit Nevis time and again. She is a daughter to Myrtle Gordon and Ben Liburd.
She was born in UK. She is grateful to her mother who brought her back to Nevis when she was only five. Whenever Denise and her mother visited Nevis, her mother would make arrangements for her to attend school for the period they would be on vacation. She says this helped her interact well with Nevisians.
She has fond memories of her visits to Nevis: “I loved going to church. I loved singing with my grandmother. I loved gospel songs. My mom sent me to school in Gingerland, so I made friends.”
Denise will be performing alongside Ian Siegal Band, Denise Gordon, Zac Harmon and Justin Merrick of the Stax She said local groups and bands among them Nu Vybes, Odisi and Kore band will add to the beauty of the festival.
She explained that jazz is a music form well established in USA. She said it has a linkage to African drums. She further said that jazz and blues is embraced in the Diaspora and was hopeful that music lovers in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis will love it.
Denise said in an interview that her father always encouraged her to sing and believed she would one day bless and inspire the world with her music. He was right. Denise is a popular artist who is widely travelled. She has performed in USA, UK and in several European countries among them Sweden the Czechoslovakia, Switzerland and Germany. She has been to Africa with an acapella group.
She always loved music. She always sang in church at an early age. Gospel music was her first love. When she decided to go full swing into music she naturally identified with jazz. Denise sings from her heart, “God has given me a gift. I want to bless the world.”