With flags of many nations flying high, Caribbean folk — first-, second-, third-generation and beyond — proudly flock to the annual West Indian American Day Carnival Parade on Labor Day to represent the land of their mothers and fathers before a million-plus participants and spectators.
And this year, the Bronx-based Gems of the Caribbean masquerade band, representing St. Kitts-Nevis, and Brooklyn’s Belizean Blue Dream mas band’s “Temptation Island” theme, representing Belize, will be among the groups along the Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, parade route on Labor Day, Sept. 5.
“This year the costumes are more beautiful and the music will be more hyped than ever before,” said bandleader Jefroy Morrishaw of DJ Morrishaw Productions, which is presenting Gems of the Caribbean with co-bandleader Delia Fahie. The 2016 effort is being produced in conjunction with Censational Treasures, the St. Kitts Tourism Authority and ZIZ radio and television stations, the national broadcasting corporation of St. Kitts-Nevis.
The group’s costumes are on display at its Bronx mas camp, 1184 Grant Ave., which has been hosting fund-raisers for the group. For information, visit www.djmorrishaw.com, send email to jefroy@djmorrishaw.com or call (917) 597-0195.
Over in Brooklyn, Blue Dream is operating under the motto “Tradition, Culture, Legacy,” filling the ranks of its Temptation Island mas band with revelers.
The Belize-connected carnival group started several years ago through a Facebook group of family and friends concerned about the nation’s lack of representation at the festivities, said bandleader Mark Humes, who is working with co-bandleader Rodric Small and supporters on the 2016 Blue Dream Mas production.
Blue Dream is using its website to attract participants to the Temptation Island mas band, sell fund-raising T-shirts and aid out-of-town revelers with affordable airfare/hotel packages to New York from Belize, Chicago, Orlando and Los Angeles. For costume information, band registration and travel offers, visit www.bluedreammas.com, call (347) 481-8643 or send email to markchoice37@gmail.com.
GUYANESE PHOTO DISPLAY
The works of an intergenerational collection of Guyanese artists will be on display in Newark in the Un|Fixed Homeland exhibition, which opens next Sunday at the Aljira contemporary art center.
In the show, created with help from guest curator Grace Aneiza Ali, 13 emerging and established Guyanese artists are using photography and photography-based art to examine the sometimes complex relationship with their homeland.
An opening reception will be held next Sunday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m at the center, 91 Broad St. in downtown Newark. The show ends Sept. 17.
The participating artists are Erika DeFreitas, Sandra Brewster from Canada; Khadija Benn, Michael Lam, and Karran Sahadeo in Guyana; Frank Bowling, Roshini Kempadoo, and Hew Locke from the United Kingdom; and Kwesi Abbensetts, Marlon Forrester, Donald Locke (1930-2010), Maya Mackrandilal, and Keisha Scarville in the U.S.
“This project is deeply personal,” said Ali, a Guyana-born artist, educator journalsit currently living in New York City. “In Un|Fixed Homeland we’ve brought together artists who share a collective agenda to counter this historic malpractice by challenging, disrupting, manipulating, and, at times intentionally exploiting, the ‘picturing paradise’ motif often associated with the region,” said Ali.
For information and directions, visit www.aljira.org or call (973) 622-1600. The center is open Wednesday through Friday from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m.to 4 p.m.
MONTY’S JAZZY ANNIVERSARY
Monty Alexander – the masterful Jamaican jazz pianist who’s played with music greats of jazz music and reggae – is hooking up with the members of the Monty Alexander Trio for the 40th anniversary of their “Montreux Alexander – Live!” performance and album.
Forty years to the day, drummer Jeff Hamilton and bassist John Clayton will rejoin Alexander tonight [7.10]at the Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood, California to commemorate the great music of the Monty Alexander Trio and the group’s classic album recorded live at the Montreux Festival in Switzerland on July 10, 1976.
Born on D-Day, June 6, 1944, Alexander was playing Christmas carols by ear on at 4. This was the start of a decades-long musical career which has included solo projects and collaborations with jazz greats and musical ventures embracing his Jamaican roots.
For more on Alexander, visit www.montyalexander.com, visit www.hamiltonjazz.com for Hamilton and www.johnclaytonjazz.com for Clayton.
NEW ANTIGUA TOURISM BOSS
With a notable rise in travel from the U.S. to its island nation, the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority has named travel industry veteran Kim Jack Riley its new director of tourism with the goal of further increasing the number of visitors.
“I am honored to take on this new position for Antigua and Barbuda, as it is an incredibly exciting time for the country with surging tourism arrivals, and multiple new properties on the horizon,” said Jack Riley. “I look forward to the opportunity of helping the twin-island nation achieve even greater visibility and growth in the U.S.”
Jack Riley – an experienced travel marketing and hospitality specialist with expertise in content production, integrated marketing and digital traffic growth – arrives at the tourism authority when arrivals from the U.S. market are up an average of 20% and the Caribbean nation is touting enhancements, undertaking intensified sales and marketing efforts.
Asot Michael, the Antigua and Barbuda Minister of Tourism, Economic Development, Investment and Energy, enthusiastically greeted Jack Riley – the latest team member in the effort to increase tourist travel the nation.
“Antigua and Barbuda has seen incredible growth in the U.S. market in 2016, and our objective is to continue this momentum with continued exponential growth in tourism arrivals, increasing airlift, and affirming our position as the Caribbean destination of choice,” said Michael. “Ms. Jack Riley’s wealth of experience in travel, communications and marketing will be a strong asset to the team to carry through our strategic tourism plan. We welcome her wholeheartedly.”
For information about Antigua and Barbuda, visit www.visitantiguabarbuda.com.There’s also information on Twitter at http://twitter.com/antiguabarbuda, Facebook at www.facebook.com/antiguabarbuda and Instagram at www.instagram.com/AntiguaandBarbuda.
HEBBERT TO ‘OCCUPY’ ART VENUE
Representations of presence, power, and identity – revealed through larger-than-life and life-size portraits – will be displayed at artist Dianne Hebbert’s “Occupy” art exhibition, which opened Saturday in Manhattan at the Thomas Hunter Project Space a Hunter College.
An opening reception for the show, curated by Aisha Tandiwe Bell, takes place Thursday, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The show runs through July 23.
In her two-dimensional works of paintings and sculptures, Hebbert’s references her Nicaraguan American background, people from her life and “individuals near and far, whom she loves and admires.”
“Occupy” exhibition patrons must to get a “guest pass” from the main entrance at Hunter College, at the corner of 68th St. and Lexington Ave., to enter the Thomas Hunter Project Space in the basement of the Thomas Hunter Building at 930 Lexington Ave.
For information, contact Aisha Tandiwe Bell at (917) 754-3291 or email aisha@superhueman.com.
