Photos by Andre C.Y. Choo Quan

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Caught Up In The Rapture...

If you reading this before you read the Friday Jazz run down, you might be a little bit more confused than usual, so make sure you read Friday (click here) first. Well it's Saturday morning now, and all man jack wake up in a daze. Men asking each other, "Was there somebody in here a while ago by the A/C?" Phone ring and it's The Big Show (TBS), he done have a plan for the morning, we heading to a liming spot called Hardest Hard. The place made for a Saturday morning brunch lime. It's like a big shed with tables and benches built around a huge tree, open on all sides. One area of the shed for food orders, from bake and salt fish to pelau to soup, and the other side is the bar. Doh say fresh cherry juice cause we might be back in St. Lucia next weekend! Believe or not, this was one of the few spots we came across that accepted plastic for payment. What a relief, cause men looking for an ATM since yesterday, not one in sight. Apparently yuh have to go Downtown to find one. So that was the mission after the shed lime. The place look like it go be real action whole day, cause a DJ was setting up and it was only like 11 o'clock in the morning.

We on the move again in search of that illusive ATM. TBS takes us Downtown and low and behold, not only do we find an ATM, but were they selling 'plumbs' ... Governor plums too, on the street outside the bank! Well boy, we buy out the woman whole 'plumb stand'. We doh make joke with 'plumbs' na, and we ain't talking bout them big purple ting Americans is call plum either eh, we talking the Caribbean kind!! So plums cyar done, we locate some adapters for them St. Lucia funny plugs so cameras and cell phones can get charged, and we heading back to the zero star inn for a pit stop before Jazz. It's Saturday, so Jazz starting early today. We trying to head down early to skip some of the traffic as well.

Before yuh know it, we back in TBS 4x4 ride and we heading down to Jazz. After yuh eat 99 million 'plumbs' yuh can't help but be lil' worried, but no repercussions so far for any of the TJJ crew, so we going brave. Once again entry to the Jazz venue was smooth. Today we get a chance to see the venue in daylight, truly an entirely new experience. We got a chance to really appreciate the sheer natural beauty of the Pigeon Island venue. I could not imagine a more perfect venue for Jazz; the blazing hot sun was perfectly complimented by that sea breeze for that storybook effect. Did I mention we organize a cooler today? Lawwwwwwdie..... this would be the demise of one man (we ain't go call no names) in the crew, who did not make it out to Red Ignite after Jazz, but lemme not get ahead of myself.

Jazz Package featuring Najee, Alex Bugnon, Nick Colionne & Ledisi on the stage now, and the surreal experience continues. In his usual style, Najee mash up the dance himself, and during his sets brought on stage many of his friends, including Angie Stone for a quick cameo. Angie was carded to mash up the Jazz the following day, but you would swear she was on tonight. It's always a really nice touch to get eight for the price of one! I was still pretty much mesmerized by the clarity of the sound system and I could not help but to anticipate Anita Baker's performance. One man say, "Yuh feel Anita go be go be good?" Ah almost slap him yes!!! I'd been trying to catch one of her shows literally for years and finally got a chance to see her in the Hard Rock in Fort Lauderdale just last year. That show was short, but amazing. Tonight promised to be a full length, no holds barred Anita Baker extravaganza, and boy did she live up to the hype. Tune after tune after tune, with the crowd singing right along to every single note. "You Bring Me Joy", "Caught Up In The Rapture", "Fairy Tales", "Sweet Love", "Giving You The Best That I Got" ... I could go on all day!

Anita even buss out a verse of "Body & Soul", a song she never does live! She says she recorded it when she was with child and her lows were very low and her highs were very high, but the love from the audience was so strong, she started taking requests and that was top of the list! What a night!! Like my Jamaican friends would say, "Yuh tink ah it dat?" Translation, "You think that is all?" Yuh believe she bring out Dionne Warwick AND Angie Stone to sing with her! Those who did not plan on coming out Sunday were making plans one time. What a combination ... Angie Stone, Dionne Warwick and Anita Baker all on the same stage and the same time singing Anita Baker Classics. The crowd did not move the first time she tried to leave, she came back out and gave them what they wanted, more!

Well boy, I was good to go home after that yes, but yuh know yuh boy was not missin the After Jazz lime at Red International's 2008 Band Launch "Red Ignite". TBS have the schedule jam packed with perfect limes, brunch lime into Jazz into After Jazz ... boom bang beem!

If I had to make a suggestion for St. Lucia Jazz, while the live pan between acts was sweet too bad, a live DJ would be off the chain too! C.I.Dee Sound is volunteering for next year (shameless plug)!! Big respect to TBS for a day only a professional limer could put together. We also have to say a big THANK YOU to the St. Lucia Tourist Board & Bet J for having us on Day 2. See you guys tomorrow!

Wados aka Photo-less and Flick-less (inside joke), for the TJJ fam.

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