Saint Lucia Jazz Festival joins forces with New York’s Jazz At Lincoln Center

It’s been announced that the Saint Lucia Jazz Festival is to be programmed by New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center for the first time. Organisers say this new collaboration means that the 27-year-old festival will be bigger than ever, stretching over a week and a multitude of venues on the Caribbean island. Wynton Marsalis is their artistic director, and he has already confirmed Christian McBride, Ledisi, Etienne Charles, Russell Hall, and Patrick Bartley will serve as artists-in-residence. Other stars appearing include Gregory Porter, Dianne Reeves, Catherine Russell, Somi, The Baylor Project, Veronica Swift and members of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra.

Additonally, the 2019 Saint Lucia Jazz Festival will feature "Artists In Education" initiatives including master classes, professional development, and live performance collaborations with Saint Lucia School of Music students and local jazz artists.

"We are proud to support the re-establishment of the Saint Lucia Jazz Festival as the premier jazz festival in the Caribbean,"  Marsalis tells us, "This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to presenting music at the highest level of artistic integrity and quality, while also offering festival-goers a profoundly good time. Jazz has a unique power to bring people of all ages together and lift up communities."

It runs from the 5th to the 11th of May with more details at www.stlucia.org