When Whylie Wrhythm takes centre stage on the opening night of the 21st staging of the Ocho Rios International Jazz Festival, patrons attending the concert should have a real musical experience when Whylie and her group of musicians roll out their jazz repertoire on Saturday, June 11 in the Courtleigh Auditorium in Kingston.
The multi-talented pianist/percussionist/singer/composer/arranger and music educator has worked in theatre and musical ensembles of various sizes and combinations, leading her group Whylie Wrhythm to jazz festivals in Miami, Trinidad, St Lucia, Barbados, London, Toronto. Whylie and her group have also performed alongside ace musician Monty Alexander in New York and Paris, the Vienne and North Sea festivals. They have also toured Britain as featured artistes with Jazz Jamaica and done a two-week stint at Ronnie Scott's in Soho, London.
Whylie's long association with the National Dance Theatre Company and research into the traditional social work and ritual music of Jamaica and the Caribbean, and many years as keyboard player and soloist with the Jamaica Big Band are reflected in her compositions and arrangements which led to the creation of Whylie Wrhythm in the 80s. She describes the group as "an elastic rhythm side of bass, guitar, keyboard and percussion".
The musical icon, however, credits her mentors, the late Adrian Clarke and Sonny Bradshaw, for grounding her in the classical forms and jazz genres from Bach to Brubeck, blues to big band, bebop to bossa nova and fusion.
Sharing the stage on opening night with Whylie Wrythm is Mynta, a Swedish group with an eclectic mix of rhythms from India, Africa, Latin America, Cuba and Brazil; Guinean musician N'Faly Kouyate; Jamaica Big Band saxophonist Dean Fraser; Canadian-born singer Kiralina and African Drummers.
This year's festival joins the world in celebrating "The Year of People of African Descent".
Jazz Week (June 11-19) will feature a brunch on June 12 with nightly free jazz jams at Hotel Four Seasons, Kingston's Festival Village and in Ocho Rios at the Sunset Jamaica Grande. Daily free jazz concerts will also take place in the Ocean Village Shopping Centre in Ocho Rios; two concerts on
June 18 at the Two Seasons Guest House in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth and at the Jamaica Palace Hotel in Portland. As a gift to jazz patrons, the closing Father's Day concert will be free and will take place at the beautiful Turtle River Park in Ocho Rios.
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