A Week of Musical Celebration in Kingston

The month of December, which in recent years, had lost some of its lustre as the premium period for live musical/arts events, regains some of that this year with the inaugural

Kingston Music Week, conceived and promoted by the RJR Group (see http://rjrgroup.com/kgnmusicwk/ for full schedule) .

Simply, the event is really a series of events, with live music at the heart. Many of these will see collaboration with leading live event promoters, including Keesing Live, the monthly Saturday night series gathering great steam, as well as Bleu Essence, which converts the car park in front of its Kings Plaza location into an open-air music arena most Tuesdays. The Keesing Live event will actually play out on a Friday for KMW, as in this Friday December 6, and will featurwe the likes of Rootz Underground, Skygrass and Bryan Art eith the File 13 Band.

Its the Essence that will take the spotlight come December 3, when Shades of Gray will unfold. The event is  so named because the artistes on the bill, or many of them, are part of the growing Graypatch Music roster, including VC, Nickiesha Barnes, Alkamis, Imar, Sharee and Royale, as confirmed.

Fans still hungry for music (and victuals) can head over to Usain Bolt's Tracks & Records to catch Assassin, aka Agent Sasco, in concert as the Behind The Screens series returns

Reggae Nite: Tanya Stephens' "Ride" and Sumfest Steps Out

Live entertainment has traditionally held down the weekend slots, especially in Kingston, but traditions are giving way in this "instant-eferything" media age. Tuesday night last proveda banner night, as there was a trio of quality live presentations within a half-mile radius on the night.

At the salubrious Macau Bar & Grill, itself home to the excellent Live & Revive series (held mondays, but presently on hiatus), the crew bwhind reggae Sumfest took their 21st Launch to members of the media and other interests. Mis Kitty kept the proceedings moving as the obligatory sponsors greetings and lineup announcements flowed, amid giveaways and photo-ops galore. Continuing its tradition of adding US r n' b and hip-hop to the local reggae/dancehall fare. Thus current r n b hearthrob (and stage diver) Miguel will bring his ditial-age funk n' soul to Mobay on the climactic International Nite 2; before that, the cleverly named Flo Rida charges into International Nite 1.

But the local reggae guard are no slouches and a couple of them took to the small stage on hand to deliver a satisfying preview of things to come. The fast-rising Nature showed a welcome intensity in his pleas for "World Peace" but it was Portland native Bugle who had the guests rocking to his cautioanry hit "nuh Compatible". All in all a typically robust outing for the Summerfest crew, indicating good things await the live stgae faithful come July 21 through 27.

A long stone's throw from Macau saw veteran (yes she is now) singer-songwriter-provocateur Tanya Stephens delivering a typically (if rarely heard these days ) stirring set as part of the Behind The Screen series at Usain Bolt's Tracks & Records. With the bodacious Stacious introducing her, Stevens, never shy with her opinions, rapped with the capacity crowd about all manner of subjects in between delivering her hits and near-misses, the majority female audience prominent (hostile in a few instances) with their devotion to "girl power, dancehall style".

Neither time nor energy co-operated for us to catch the third event, that of Tina Simone delivering her soul-jazz-rockers gems at the Bleu essence club tucked into the Kings Plaza - the show actually unfolds in the large car park. We're sure however that she gave a great account of herself and encourage you to look out for and follow her future endeavours. Find her on facebook - https://www.facebook.com/anit.ttawom?fref=ts