Eight young musicians from the Cayman Arts Festival’s jazz group presented a line-up of classics and contemporary hits during their debut performance, ‘Rush Hour’, at the George Town Public Library on 27 June.
After a full year of practising, group members Michael Grizzel (piano and keyboard), Victoria Suarez (bass guitar), Genesis Scott (voice), Kaniel Baker (drum kit), Jasmin Ordonez (voice), Javian McLeod (percussion), Hans Bodden (electric guitar) and Thian Bodden (saxophone) delighted audiences with songs from popular artists such as Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Ben E. King and Grover Washington Jr.
Musicians showcased their talents performing songs including ‘Hit the Road Jack,’ ‘Fly Me to the Moon,’ ‘Superstition,’ ‘Stand by Me,’ and ‘Viva La Vida.’ The crowd appeared moved by the musical selections which in turn enabled the band to feel more comfortable as they played.
Beneil Miller, jazz group supervisor and CAF veteran, told the Compass, “I’ve been doing the jazz group for the Cayman Arts Festival for a couple years now, so this was the latest innovation of it, and I decided to take it into a different direction this time, a little more of pop, rock, a little bit of everything.”
Additional special appearances included the CAF piano club’s top two students – Omari Reid and Aiden Ramoon.
Marius Gaina, CAF executive director, elaborated on the goals of the organisation. “It’s our 20th anniversary this year, we’ve been doing this for the past 20 years, he told the Compass. “We have a group of 300 kids … we train them, tutor them, buy instruments for them, we expose them like this. This is the jazz group, we have strings, we have brass, we have woodwind, choir, you name it. It’s a big organization, and this is the newest product that we offer.”
Additional reporting by Compass intern Henri Morineau.
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