Found at: http://www.anguillaguide.com/article/articleprint/5417/-1/134/
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Jazz At NBA's Parkway: Anguillian Musician In St. Martin Lends Helping Hand
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Anguillians and others of all ages had a thrilling experience when they flocked to the Parkway at the National Bank of Anguilla for jazz music there on Friday, November 9, as the three-day Annual Tranquillity Jazz Festival got underway at several locations on the island.
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Students with Teacher Louise Brooks
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The jazz affair on the Bank’s Parkway was advertised as featuring such well-known musicians and groups like Sproka, Keith Gumbs, Kingsley Richardson, the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive Concert Band and Nu Wave.
One person not mentioned and who turned up with the others, was James Chance, formerly Ruan. “I was born at Sandy Hill and I am here to join in the jazz,” he said. He was speaking in an interview after sending the crowd shouting with delight as he played, sang and danced on the stage to the accompaniment of Keith Gumbs on the keyboard.
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L-R: Keith Gumbs, Priscilla Gumbs and James Chance
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Chance, who was an early student at the East End School, migrated to St. Martin where he now lives but occasionally visits Anguilla. “I do music and I do taxiing,” he said. “It pays off because I do a lot of music.” He is an entertainer at such places as the Orient Beach, especially when the cruise ships are in, Sapphire Hotel and La Samana Hotel.
Asked about his involvement in jazz, he replied: “I was always in calypso and reggae. I am not really into jazz but into the standards …like the old songs, that’s a kind of jazz also. I prefer that than the rough stuff because some people can’t understand where you are going. I can play around with the notes but always come back to the sounds that people can hear exactly what song I am playing…I was just playing calypso, a little reggae and a little jazz, mixing it all up. I was doing this for 40-something years so it pays off.”
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Applause for musician James Chance
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Questioned about what he thought about jazz he responded: “People loved it especially in Anguilla. Some Sundays I come over and play with the boys at Johnno’s. People like to sit back and listen to how you play around with the notes.”
After playing, Chance took the opportunity to give a brief lesson to the students as they prepared to go on stage for their performances. “Hold the trumpet between your lip and tongue and blow,” he tutored them.
“I told them it is a beautiful instrument and that music is a great thing,” he stated. “It is an international language. You can go to any country in the world and play – like I went to Holland and the United States even without rehearsing. You make money from it and you have to love what you are doing.”
His lending hand to jazz on the Parkway of the National Bank was a useful one in that it brought an additional amount of entertainment to the appreciative audience.