02 May NORTH COAST JAZZ IS BACK IN 2025
THE North Coast Jazz (NCJ) is back after a one-year break, its production manager John Gill told Newsday.
The event is scheduled for May 30-31 and starts with the usual free movie night and, on May 31, a star-studded line-up featuring Barbadian jazz/reggae saxophonist Arturo Tappin will be held at the Blanchisseuse Recreation Ground.
This is the first year a regional act is being included, Gill said in a phone interview on April 30.
The jazz event began in 2017 and was the brainchild of former Port of Spain mayor Louis Lee Sing, Gill, former director and real estate agent Margaret Gittens and Jerome Lewis.
North Coast Jazz was last held in 2023.
“Myself and Louis Lee Sing started North Coast Jazz in 2017 and then we brought on Margaret Gittens and Jerome Lewis. We had successfully hosted the event in ’18, ’19, ’22 and 23.
“I sat out of it in ’24 and we allowed Margaret Gittens to take the helm. For whatever reasons, she was unable to pull it off,” he said.
He and Lee Sing then met with Gittens and informed her Gill would be taking over, and at that point, she resigned, he said.
Gill is the main organiser as Lee Sing is working on his health but is still quietly working in the background.
Although the organisers planned to host a J’Ouvert in 2022, it did not happen but Gill plans to re-introduce it next year.
He did not say much more as he wants next year’s re-release to be special.
“We tried the J’Ouvert thing in 2022 but it didn’t work. But we have something new that we are hoping to re-introduce the J’Ouvert in 2026,” he said.
Although, when successfully held, the NCJ featured all local acts, this is its first year it is featuring a regional act.
“Our normal tagline is, ‘Born here, Play here’ because when we started we committed to doing mainly local acts.
“We still hold on to the tagline, Born here, Play here but, this year, we have decided to expand it to the region.”
This tagline will now encompass regional jazz acts as well, Gill said. Tappin is this year’s Caribbean act.
“He is going to be featuring pannist Dane Gulston and we are paying tribute to The Merchant (the late Dennis Williams) and this is why it is called Caribbean Connection (the name of one of Merchant’s songs).”
Gill said he always loved Merchant’s music and, given the introduction of Caribbean artistes, he felt it was fitting.
Shadow and Lord Nelson are among the artistes honoured in the past, Gill said.
There are no future plans to host international acts even though regional acts are being introduced this year, Gill said.
“We think there is enough talent, locally and regionally, that we could tap into,” he said.
The organisers also plan to continue their work of building a bed and breakfast industry in the Blanchisseuse area.
Gill said they have done “pretty good” so far, growing the area’s room capacity from 50/60 to over 200 rooms.
“It continues to grow,” he added.
Panazz: The Story will be the featured movie on May 30.
NCJ might also partner with an artist for an art show at the event.
Gill hopes the event will attract an audience of 2,000 people or more.
Gospel artiste Kezie Peters-Shah will open the show at 4 pm at the Blanchisseuse Recreation Ground.
Joshua Regrello, Terri Lyons and Leston Paul are among the other cast members.
The park and ride service has also been re-introduced. This year, North Coast Jazz partnered with Extravagant Tours to offer this option.
“People will park at Queen’s Hall car park and then be shuttled up to the venue. There are three packages that they will offer: the ride alone, the jazz access express which includes the ticket and then the ultimate jazz tour which includes air-conditioned transportation, guided tours, easy entry, reserved seating and food and drinks.”
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