Charlotte Street south will be transformed into the likes of Bourbon Street on any given hot Louisiana night when the pulsating rhythms of New Orleans-styled jazz becomes the heartbeat of the town tonight as the Rotary Club of Nassau Sunrise hosts Jazz Street Party at Van Breugel's Bistro & Bar.
With various styles of jazz performed by Bahamian artists, this is not an event where you're going to walk in and fall asleep. Like the rhythms of the jazz men that descend upon Paris' Ile de France every year, Montreaux, Switzerland; Havana, Cuba and Montreal, Canada, the vibrant, eclectic world of jazz performed by local artists will electrify the open-air festival.
"It promises to be a great event," said co-chairman Emerika Robinson. "We will be shutting down the street from the driveway of the Financial Center to the end of My Ocean, and we have tents in case rain threatens, but we're hoping for a nice evening." Music from jazz bands -- Jazz Etc and Ambasah will be the order of the day, along with performances from Gawain Clarke, Angel Reckley and Zee Thompson.
"Zee has a completely different style that you would see in her jazz. She sings reggae, she sings rock, so it's not going to be a ho-hum sit down, slow music thing. One artist will be doing a rake and scrape combo, so I'm really interested in seeing how that's going to go, because they're going to bring in their style of jazz with a Bahamian twist to it, which will make it interesting," said Robinson.
"I'm actually excited, because this is not going to be an event where you're going to walk in and fall asleep. And will be exciting because we have so many different varieties of artists coming to the table. Usually at events you just have one band, and a few singers, but we tried to get as many people on board as possible." The event will be set up cocktail style in the street with decorated highboys and soft lighting for the ambiance to set the mood.
The $50 all-inclusive tickets for the Jazz Street Party are selling like "hotcakes". Robinson says they never expected the overwhelming response they've been getting. And she never thought that so many Bahamians had a love for jazz. "I chose jazz because of my love and passion for jazz music," said the daughter of a musician (Edward Robinson), and when I started to plan for this event, which started out as a bar crawl, with us going to different spots to listen to different types and styles of jazz, but Van Breugel's decided they would take this on and assist us in making this a great event."
The Jazz Street Party originally started out as a jazz bar crawl. When Rotary Club of Nassau Sunrise approached Van Breugel's they wanted to take on the event in its entirety and turn it into a jazz street party for the organization. The street party kicks off at 6 p.m. Even though the tickets say the event shuts down at 10 p.m. Robinson anticipates it swinging through until at least 11 p.m.
Sands Beer will do taste testing of their Bush Crack beer, which is sold exclusively at Virgil's Real BBQ at Atlantis. Bristol Wines & Spirits will provide wine as well as a mojito bar. Van Breugel's chefs will provide eight varieties of appetizers to please the vegetarian and meat lovers throughout the night.
A highlight of the evening includes the raffling of various gift items from stores in the vicinity. Coin of the Realm has donated a Thomas Sabo masquerade bracelet in the spirit of the occasion. There will also be gift certificates from Brass & Leather, his and her baskets from the Perfume Bar, a stay at Compass Point and dinners.
A Chinese auction will also be the highlight of the evening hosted by a professional Chinese auctioneer. In a Chinese auction, bidders have to be still and quiet, as any movement is considered a bid. All bids are $1. And you keep going, so whatever the amount goes up to, you're bidding $1. The excitement comes in when the auctioneer starts the motion to say the bid is closing. The last person to bid $1 gets the piece for $1. So you can't lose with a Chinese auction, because it's all about excitement, and you can bid actually $5 and still get a $500 piece.
Proceeds from the Rotary Club of Nassau Sunrise will benefit the charities with which they assist.
Date: Friday, November 11
Place: Van Breugel's Bistro & Bar, Charlotte Street south
Time: 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Donation: $50 per person, includes drinks and hors d'oeuvres
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