Tranquility Jazz Here To Stay, Says Speakers

The Tranquility Jazz Festival closed on Sunday, November 16, at Road Bay with a mammoth crowd in attendance. The visitors and residents filled Johnno’s Beach Restaurant to capacity as they dined and enjoyed the arresting music played by Johnno’s and the Anguilla Jazz Ensemble. The crowd then converged on the beach where they listened to Anastacia Larmonie Ensemble of St. Maarten and the Anguilla Community Jazz Band.

Among the crowd were Minister of Finance Victor Banks, who regularly attended the festival; Chairman of the Anguilla Tourist Board, John Benjamin, Festivals Coordinator, Fitzroy Tomlinson, Valentin Davis, Manager of Frangipani Beach Resort, a well-known jazz fan and promoter; his mother Josianne Fleming, a live wire with the highly-acclaimed Larmonie Jazz Ensemble; and Deputy Commissioner of Police in St. Maarten, Richard Banneflek. They all spoke to Nat Hodge of The Anguillian in a brief interview as follows:

NH: Mr. Banks, what are your thoughts about the Tranquility Jazz Festival?

VB: “I think that this jazz experience is going to be a good thing for Anguilla’s tourism product. The inclement weather was a bit of a set back, but I think that we were still able to present a small example of what a successful jazz festival would be like. There was a lot of enthusiasm and good crowd response. The artistes were great and exceptional and Anguilla has received a lot of exposure from it.

“This is the beginning of things to come and I feel very good about what has happened. The local and foreign artistes have had rave reviews from the audiences. Everybody I have spoken to have been very satisfied, despite the fact that the weather was bad, so I feel good about the whole thing.”

NH: “The jazz came just about the beginning of the tourism season – how effective has it been for the island?”

VB: “We call it the shoulder of the tourism season. The jazz was held at this time so that we can generate some activity during this part of the season which is usually soft and when rooms are empty and available. The tourism industry is supposed to start in November but in effect it usually begins in December and ends about the end of April.
“We are trying to stretch that out from the beginning of November into June, July… and we have to continue to create activities to make that happen.”

NH: “Mr. Benjamin, what comments do you have about the jazz festival?”

JB: “We are satisfied with the turn out of the public and the response we have received internationally and the marketing aspect for Anguilla. Unfortunately, we have had no control over the rainy weather which was an act of God. We were unable to give the true effect to what we wanted to achieve, but we and BET are satisfied that we achieved our purpose in marketing Anguilla.

“Next year we are going to do it a little different to cater for the rain by having some small events at different sites ending with a grand finale. We have learned from the lessons and by next year we will have grown stronger.”

NH: “Suppose it really rains again in November next year what other precautionary steps will be in place?”

JB: “We will have most of the events – at least the opening event - planned for indoors. We will set up the festival in such a way that if the rain were to come we can move to indoor facilities to make the adjustment.

“It is important that we keep it at this time of the year as we are trying to bring people to Anguilla and this is one of the low parts of the season in terms of visitor arrivals. Therefore it is not just the show itself. It is to boost visitor arrivals.”

NH: “What do you see as the benefits of the US$300,000 spent to promote the festival?”

JB: “In terms of what we have achieved so far, I think $300,000 is very, very good because in terms of Barbados and some of the other islands, which are doing similar projects, the expenditure is even greater. St. Kitts for example spent over a million dollars to host similar events. When you consider that for $300,000 we have been exposed to 76 million viewers in America … and also in the entire Caribbean through Family Radio, I think the money was well spent and I don’t have any misgivings about it.

“I feel very happy to know that our people are mature and understanding of what tourism means to the island and their turnout showed that they are supporting what the Tourist Board is now doing. When I talked to the hoteliers – people like at Mango’s – they told me it is the best open season they have ever had. I have seen friends whom I invited to Anguilla over 20 years ago turned up this time. So it has brought in a lot of people who have never been to Anguilla and they told me ‘John if you have jazz again, you will see me next year’ and some have even said they are already booked for next year. So the doubters will see that it will bring the success we planned for.”

The next interviewee was Fitzoy Tomlinson.

NH: “How satisfied are you?”

FT: “There is no doubt in my mind about what this event has done for Anguilla in terms of marketing and what it will do in the future. I have met people from all over the world who came just for the jazz festival so it tells me that we did something good. The future for this event looks very, very bright. We did not use the jazz village… but we created a venue and I think everybody saw how beautiful it is and would have been if we had a chance to use it, but all in all everybody is happy about the event and I am certainly happy and Anguilla should be very proud.”

NH: “What did BET think about the event?”

FT: “It was wonderful because this was the only true jazz festival in that it was straight ahead jazz; no R&B, no hip-hop, just straight ahead jazz and BET is very excited about working with us. A number of BET executives who came down are looking to be behind this project and they think it will definitely work for Anguilla and the upscale market the island offers and everything else.”

Valentin Davis next spoke to The Anguillian.

NH: “You are a big lover of jazz – what are your views?”

VD: “I would say jazz started at the Frangipani Beach Club in 1999 with Anastacia Larmonie and her Jazz Ensemble and also with a singing group. Jazz is something that I grew up with in my home [in St.Maarten] and I think that it is something promising for Anguilla. It is something that we are happy to see continuing in this format. We support the Tranquility Jazz Festival and we think it is all about Anguilla.”

Mr. Davis’ mother, Josianne Fleming, [wife of Mayor Albert Fleming of St Martin] had this to say: “I think it is a great idea. I think we need a lot of cooperation when we want to do something of this nature. I am a member of the Tourist Board of St. Maarten and I told one of the politicians that it would be a much better project if we worked together. There are so many funds available for cooperation efforts in Europe and we can do something with St. Maarten/Anguilla Tranquility Jazz and it could be much better and bigger.”

The Deputy Chief of Police of Dutch St. Maarten, Richard Banneflek, was among many visitors from St. Martin/St. Maarten. “I have some friends in Anguilla and they invited me over for the Tranquility Jazz Festival. I took up the offer and came. Like the festival is called, I needed some tranquility after so many hours on the job so I came over to Anguilla and will start afresh at work in St. Maarten again on Monday.

“Anguilla is a sister island to us being just north of the French border. We know the law enforcement officials on a personal basis and the cooperation is good and we exchange information where necessary so the contact is well established.”