Tobago Jazz is on this weekend

WHAT IS now known as Tobago Jazz Experience (TJE) has gone through many phases. Even as it goes through yet another transitionary phase, the TJE continues with its main shows being held this weekend.

This year’s jazz experience will feature two main nights tomorrow and Sunday. The first main night is Jazz in the East featuring Caribbean stars such as Tarrus Riley and Tanya Stephens, among others, at the Speyside Recreational Grounds and is free. International night on Sunday will feature headliners Anthony Hamilton, Ne-Yo and Fantasia at the Pigeon Point Heritage Park from 3.30 pm.

Hamilton, according to allmusic.com, “struggled for the better part of the 1990s as two of his albums went unreleased. While he didn’t always get the label support his talent deserved, Hamilton established himself during the 2000s as one of the rawest, most singular, and relatable voices in R&B. He did so while racking up several Top Ten R&B albums and a handful of Grammy nominations.”

The Charlotte, North Carolina singer began singing in his church’s choir at ten. The neo-soul contemporary singer’s 2008 Point of It All received a Grammy nomination for the Best Traditional R&B Album, with two of its songs also being nominated in separate categories. He has also contributed to the movie, Django Unchained, soundtrack.

Ne-yo, whose real name is Shaffer Smith, started in the music industry as a songwriter. In 2006, his first album called In My Own Words came out and went to “the top of the Billboard 200 and R&B/Hip-Hop album charts, supported by the number one hit So Sick –one of his many collaborations with Norwegian production duo Stargate,” www.allmusic.com said.

Since then Ne-Yo has become a household name dominating the R&B charts. Grammy-winning hits such as Miss Independent are some of the Ne-Yo songs patrons might hear at this year’s jazz experience.

Allmusic.com says of Fantasia, “Fantasia Barrino may have won the third season of American Idol with I Believe, but it was her passionate take on George Gershwin’s Summertime that had everyone talking for weeks. Confident to a degree that she could be considered brash, Barrino at first glance seemed an unlikely candidate to take the teen-oriented show’s title, but with her dynamic gospel-tinged voice that never failed her, she not only became the Idol judges’ obvious favorite, but the American public’s, too. She debuted with a platinum album and remained with a major label longer than most other Idol stars and R&B singers.”

When I see You, Lose to Win and When I Met You are some of Fantasia’s hit.

Extra flights have been made available for the jazz experience.