Daytwon Dames of St. Paul’s Methodist College received the highest grade in the Hip Hop & Rap-Open Class during the E. Clement Bethel National Arts Festival 2016 at Grand Lucayan in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Thursday, March 3, 2016. Elizabeth Thorton, an educator of 43 years, adjudicated the Music component.  Adjudications continue on Grand Bahama until March 11.

Savannah Sawyer of Sunland Baptist Academy sings her heart out in the Jazz Solo 16-18 Years during the E. Clement Bethel National Arts Festival 2016.

Ashliegh Stubbs of Sunland Academy sings “Precious Lord Take My Hand” with such emotion in the Gospel Solo for 18 Years & Under.

Daneisha Greene of Jack Hayward Senior High School performs.

Corvel McIntosh of Grand Bahama Academy performs his own original rap in the Hip Hop & Rap-Open Class.

Tylea Manchester of The Beacon School recites “I am a Fighter” in the Individual Speaking Class Grades 4-6 Class. Artistic Director, Dundas Centre, Philip Burrows adjudicates the Drama component of the Festival.

Cierra Gardiner of Grace Christian Academy recites “I Almost Touched a Bird” in the Individual Speaking Class Grades 4-6 Class.'

Antwanique Turnerb of Sunland Baptist Academy performs in the Story Telling Category for Grades 1 – 3 with a piece called “A Day at the Beach.”

Cordae Strachan of Maurice E. Moore Primary School performs his own original piece in the Story Telling Category for Grades 1-3 with a rendition called “Unknown Thief.” (BIS Photos/Llonella Gilbert)

The Eleuthera All That Jazz Festival will soon be celebrating its fourth anniversary, bringing a host of renowned jazz artists to perform on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas from 30th March to April 3rd 2016.

Recently listed in USA Today as one of the top ten Caribbean musical festivals  to see in 2016, Eleuthera All That Jazz has been steadily growing its reputation since its first concert in 2012. Founder and Chairwoman of the festival, Patricia Leigh-Wood said “every year we aim to attract an exciting new mix of both local and international jazz artists and this year will be no exception.”

Featured global artists in 2016 include singer Gabrielle Strav­elli, adored for her unique take on American greats like Duke Ellington and Dolly Parton, accompanied by her quintet and also featuring renowned saxophonist Scott Robinson; New York’s King Solomon Hicks with his jazzy guitar sounds and vocals, and from Austria the dynamic double piano performers Johnny SchÜtten – who is also the Musical Director of the festival – and Christoph “Boogie Wolf ” Steinbach.

Local Bahamian artists Adrian D’Aguilar & The Jazz Cats will be returning to the festival, and presenting some young new talents such as vocalist Anuschka Wright. Other popular performers returning are Dion Turnquest, Ralph Munnings , saxophonist Tino Richardson and drummer Kevin Dean.

The two main events of the festival are on the evening of Saturday 2nd April at the Leon Levy Preserve, a loyal sponsor since the festival’s first year, and a gourmet jazz lunch at a private residence overlooking the beach on Sunday 3rd April.

Johnny SchÜtten said “We are very excited to be putting on even more shows than previous years, a total of 7 events over the 5 days, allowing us to have a broader geographical reach around the island and to not limit ourselves to just evening concerts”.

All profits made by the festival are donated to the historic Hayne’s Library in Governor’s Harbor, which provides invaluable support and resources to the local community through a multitude of free services and outreach programs, especially for children, in such areas as homework assistance, arts and crafts and computer proficiency. And the jazz festival adds to this educational objective by running a “meet the instruments” session at the library for local children.

President of the Hayne’s Library Michele Johnson said “The festival has been an extremely welcome addition to our annual fund raising, last year providing more than $20,000 to our funding. This year we are planning to use the donation towards refurbishing and providing new equipment for our computer room. Few students on the island can afford a computer at home, so this is an essential educational tool for them.”

As well as supporting the Hayne’s Library, the festival also aims to provide valu­able contacts for Baha­mian musicians in the international music scene and encourage visitors to Eleuthera as a cultural tourist location.

Profits are made through ticket sales but also in large part by the generous donations made by private and public sponsors. Together with the Leon Levy Preserve, the main 2016 sponsors are Damiano’s, HG Christie and the Royal Bank of Canada and Eleuthera Island Organics will once again be donating stunning, edible table decorations for the Sunday jazz lunch.

Full details on the performances, artists and how to buy tickets or sponsor the festival are available on the website www.eleutheraallthatjazz.com.

Source: DPA Media

Eleuthera All That Jazz artists are set to perform 30 March to April 3, 2016. (Photo credit Marc Coeffic.)

Atlantis, Paradise Island resort is bringing two of the hottest new acts in music to paradise in its first-ever Spring Break series this March 2016. The Atlantis LIVE concert series welcomes Charlie Puth and American pop-rock band DNCE as they take the stage during the Spring Break season.

On March 19, 2016, 3x GRAMMY nominee Charlie Puth brings his singer/songwriter talents to the resort for the first of two Spring Break concerts. Puth, whose headline tour kicks off March 3, 2016, is best known for his debut single “Marvin Gaye” ft. Meghan Trainor, "One Call Away," and “See you Again,” a collaboration with Wiz Khalifa for the film Furious 7 which topped the Billboard Hot 100 for twelve weeks. The singer/songwriter’s work has received multiple nominations, including Teen Choice Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, American Music Awards, and Golden Globe Awards and Grammy Awards.

Following Puth’s appearance, DNCE will take center stage on March 26, 2016. Fronted by the multitalented Joe Jonas, the band’s breakout hit, “Cake By The Ocean,” is now a top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, and recently broke into the top 10 at Top 40 radio. The song is also currently on Shazam’s Top 100 US Chart and Top 20 on Spotify’s US Top 50 Chart. To date, overall streams exceed 70 million, while video views are over 17 million and counting.

The track vaulted to #1 on Spotify’s Global Viral and U.S. Viral 50 charts and reached #6 on the iTunes Top Pop Songs Chart and #11 on the Overall Top Songs Chart. It also received a placement in the newest Sprint commercial. Since the single’s September 2015 release, the group has made a slew of national television appearances including The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Good Morning America and The Ellen DeGeneres Show alongside President Obama. The band’s debut EP, SWAAY (Republic Records), which entered the Top 10 on the iTunes Pop Chart upon its release, is available at all digital retailers now.

Both Spring Break concerts will take place in Atlantis’ Imperial Ballroom beginning at 9:00 PM. Tickets are available for purchase starting at $60.00+VAT, with different levels of pricing available for both guests of the resort and non-resort guests.

The Atlantis LIVE event series is known for hosting some of the most popular names in entertainment, with previous performers like Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars and Katy Perry.

Seated from left: Fred Ferguson, Tim Rommen, Minister Daniel Johnson, and Ronald Simms. (BIS Photo/Raymond A. Bethel, Sr.)

Musician Fred Ferguson along with Ronald Simms and the late Nat Williams decided that it was important to preserve the dying art of Rake ‘n’ Scrape; so they identified two popular groups, namely Bo Hog & The Rooters, and Ophie & The Websites, and got them into a recording studio.

With the assistance of Tim Rommen, professor of music and African Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, they managed to to get the music CD’s accepted by, and added to, the catalogue of the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.

The music can be found on the Smithsonian’s website http://folkways.si.edu/ accompanied with 24 pages of notes and photos compiled and annotated by Mr. Tim Rommen with assistance from Fred Ferguson.

“This is a major accomplishment for The Bahamas for the preservation of our indigenous music, Rake ‘n’ Scrape,” said Mr. Ferguson.

These compact discs are the closest thing to the Rake ‘n’ Scrape of yester-year,” said the Hon. Dr. Daniel Johnson Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture during a press conference on Friday, February 19, 2016 at the Ministry.’

These CD’s “will be worth millions in about ten years because persons will use them to see how Rake ‘n’ Scrape should sound,” he said.

By Stirling Strachan - Bahamas Information Services