The George Town Public Library felt like a small treasure chest on Thursday, June 18 when the audience gathered for CayMusicA’s “Music at the Library”.
The room carried that unmistakable CayMusicA warmth – the sense that everyone was rooting for the musicians before a single note was played. And on this night, that warmth mattered, because this was the debut of The Jazz Collective, five of Cayman’s finest music educators and performing artists stepping forward with a new sound.
At the front, the quintet settled in with the relaxed confidence of people who know each other well. Marlon Cortes at the piano, calm and steady; Alannah Smith behind the drums, bright eyed and alert; Faye Williams with her alto sax gleaming under the library lights; Cody Gifford switching between tenor sax and trumpet; and Duncan Andreson, whose electric bass quietly became the heartbeat of the night pulsing out roots, fifths and thirds along with those colourful incidentals that keep your foot tapping.
Their years of teaching and performing seemed to gather in the air around them – experience distilled into ease.
They opened with “Autumn Leaves”, beginning so softly it felt like someone nudging fallen leaves with the toe of their shoe – thoughtful, unhurried, almost private. A couple of small solos fluttered through the tune, including a gentle bass moment from Duncan; nothing showy, just warm flourishes around the arpeggios, like autumn’s golden leaves fluttering in a gentle breeze.
“Blue Moon” followed, cool and silvery, the horns trading phrases with easy charm. And threaded through the evening was the quiet essence of jazz: improvisation. They honoured the melodies, but each tune opened a little window where personality stepped forward – a sax curl here, a piano shimmer there – sweet, sincere, and very human.
The programme promised a journey through jazz’s many colours and landscapes, and the Collective delivered. “Sing a Song” gave Duncan’s bass a moment in the spotlight, opening with a moody arpeggio that set the tone before the horns planted the melody like a flag. “Água de Beber” brought a lush, almost decadent piano solo, Marlon doubling octaves to create a richness that felt like a memory from another era. Tiger Rag burst in with dancing Dixieland brightness, the top line playful and flapper sharp while Duncan switched to trombone underneath, giving the tune a stately foundation.
One of the evening’s quiet triumphs was “Suburban Sunset”. The tune captured something familiar: the sun going down not over beaches or mountains, but over homes, roads, factories – kids on bicycles – the ordinary things made golden. The piano called out a phrase, and the horns answered in harmony, turning a common scene into something sacred. It felt like a glimpse of what the Collective might become: musicians who can take the everyday Caymanian landscape and translate it into sound.
They hadn’t played “My Favorite Things” in the main set, but the audience wasn’t letting them leave without it. After the final tune, applause rose and held. The musicians slipped away, then returned for a bright, playful encore that lifted the whole room. It felt like a promise – the first chapter of a new sound in Grand Cayman.
Christopher Tobutt is a freelance journalist who has written for various publications in the Cayman Islands since 2003.
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