Faces of Belize Jazz Festival Here for Emancipation Day

Emancipation Day is almost here, and the Faces of Belize Jazz Festival musicians are ready to put on a show. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the festival which plays tribute to the rich culture and deep history of the holiday with a blend of Jazz, traditional music and orchestra. We stopped by the Ramada Hotel earlier today to speak with a few of the performers who travelled from abroad to be a part of this beloved event.

 

Jalen Charles, Tenor steel pan

“So I’m a student at N.I.U., Northern Illinois University in the United States.  And one of the members of the band’s father actually came to N.I.U. for like a week.  And he saw us and asked if we would be willing to come and help out the band play and stuff.  it’s an opportunity that we are grateful to have been offered. And now we’re really excited that we could be here and just play, not just with a steel band, but with an orchestra as well and just even experience in Belize because this is my first time and all of us This is our first time in Belize. So we’re really excited for that.”

 

 

Hannah Sheridan, Celloist

“So I actually I was pretty lucky. I knew that my friends who were our steel and players were going and there had been a vacancy for a cello and my friend Joshua had said, Oh, I know a cellist. And put my name in and I think they needed me. And so I was here, I’ve been practicing the music for a couple of weeks. And yeah, I’m just really excited to play in this kind of ensemble. Usually I play classical cello and I don’t really get to be exposed to a lot of different kinds of musical ensembles and experiences. So it should be a new and fun and exciting experience.”

 

 

 

Carlos Perrotte, Director

“We are blending traditional music from Belize, from, with jazz, with classical music. And we have a big amount of musicians that will participate, around seventeen musicians, internationally and local musicians. That will be this Saturday, seven o’clock, in this room, Princess Ramada room. And we are inviting everybody that want to come and enjoy Belizean fusion music.”

 

Britney Gordon

“And what countries are the artists coming in from?”

 

Carlos Perrotte

“We have musicians from Mexico. So we have musicians from the US and also from Trinidad and Tobago. 

 

Britney Gordon

“And how much does it cost to come be a part of it?”

 

Carlos Perrotte

“General is thirty, reserve is fifty. You have to hurry because most of the reserve is already gone.”