THA still trying to collect jazz down-payment from D’Angelo

Seven months after American soul singer D’ Angelo (Michael Eugene Archer) failed to show for his contracted performance at the Tobago Jazz Experience 2017’s World Music Night at Pigeon Point on April 29, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) is yet to recover its down payment to have the artiste appear at the festival.

Tourism and Culture Secretary Nadine Stewart-Phillips, in response to a question on what the THA was doing to recover the money paid to D’Angelo, from Minority member for Parlatuvier/L’Anse Fourmi/Speyside, Farley Augustine, at last Thursday plenary, said “several attempts were made through the (THA) legal department to recover monies paid to the company and no favourable feedback was received. The legal department was instructed to initiate legal action against Eleven Entertainment Company Limited.”

Eleven Entertainment Company Limited was contracted to procure the services of D’ Angelo and other artistes on behalf of THA for the jazz festival.

Then Chairman of the Jazz Festival Committee, John Arnold, had told the media on the final night of the jazz festival on April 30 at Pigeon Point, D’Angelo cost $430,000, that the down payment was still in the artiste’s possession and the THA had given a timeline of three months to collect a refund.

Arnold had told the media that D’ Angelo was unable to perform because his grandfather died, that “our job right now is not to search to find out if his grandfather really died, we have an agency to do that on our behalf. We are just going with the information that is given to us by the agency.”