Caribbean Beat — March/April 2019 (#156)

ADVERTORIAL
Welcome to the exhilirating Tobago Jazz Experience
Everything you need to know about Tobago’s premiere musical event
The Tobago Jazz Experience, as it’s now known, was started under another name in 2004 as a private
sector initiative, and ran for five consecutive years until 2008. World-renowned artistes like Elton
John, Sting, LL Cool J, and Diana Ross were some of the marquee names featured in the
previous Tobago Jazz Festival.
By 2009, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) took hold of the reins. Recognising that over
the years patrons had come to enjoy more than just the scintillating headline acts gracing the
main stages, the festival was rebranded the Tobago Jazz Experience. This new version has
become an annual pilgrimage for family and friends who look forward to the easy-going vibe
on the island with one of the most iconic beaches in the world, Pigeon Point.
The Tobago Festivals Commission (TFC), the revitalised entity charged with sole responsibility
for putting on the event, brought us the 2018 edition of the Tobago Jazz Experience, where
audiences were treated to the music and moves of Michael Jackson-reincarnate, Ne-Yo; driven into
a frenzy by Fantasia, American Idol winner turned international crowd pleaser; and serenaded under the
stars by neo-soul exponent, Anthony Hamilton.
Not to be outdone, the 2019 edition of the Tobago Jazz Experience promises to be no less exhilarating, with one of
the world’s most beloved crooners, Michael Bolton, confirmed as a headline act. The other marquee performers are
yet to be named — however, if the TFC’s short but impactful track record is any indication, we can expect that Bolton
will be accompanied by similar star power over the course of the Tobago Jazz Experience, running
from 25 to 28 April.
TFC Executive Chairman George Leacock, former national basketballer and sport administrator,
can be an intimidating personality for the fainthearted to interact with on a regular
basis. But his lifelong love affair with Carnival, and Tobago’s culture on the whole, makes
him the ideal person to charge the lead into such unfamiliar territory. As the founder of the
island’s first radio station, he knows all too well the challenges of forging a path where
none previously existed.
The Tobago Festivals Commission’s mandate
Other than the Tobago Jazz Experience, this iteration of the Tobago Festivals Commission has
been charged with managing all of Tobago’s other major festivals, including Carnival, Best Village, the Tobago Dragon
Boat Festival, Tobago Heritage Festival, and Tobago Blue Food Festival. A new feature event on the region’s sport tourism
calendar, the Pan Am Dragon Boat Club Crew Championships, carded for 22 to 24 March, is also under the purview
of the TFC.
Under the vigilant eye of the board, the TFC has adopted as its watchwords Economical, Efficient, and Exciting, with
a view to putting on events that are lean in their use of available resources, yet still entertaining for patrons. Though a
young organisation, the TFC is poised to chart a new course in festival management and event tourism. With a dynamic,
innovative team of youthful professionals under the stewardship of an eclectic Executive Chairman with a business
acumen like no other, it is clear that only the sky is limit.