ttgapers.com

Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival 2006 - Wyndham Rose Hall Hotel - Montego Bay - Jamaica

The recent 2006 Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival saw the good, the bad, the indifferent - and Bounty Killer.

Held last weekend on the Golf Course of the Wyndham Rose Hall Hotel in Montego Bay, the festival's thousands of patrons saw the performance of Bounty Killer, who was not billed for the show, but made a cameo appearance with Richie Stephens on Friday night.

Richie Stephens sang Pot Of Gold and Maniac with Bounty. During the surprise performance Bounty also sang It's Okay.

It was the Killer's second time performing at the event, as he was called up in 2004 by Alicia Keys. The 'Ghetto Gladiator' was pleased with his performances.

"It's normal to me; I've performed at similar things like that. I was the first dancehall artiste to perform at East Fest and I've performed at SuperJam," said Bounty Killer.

He added that although he was not billed for Jazz and Blues, he brought a level of entertainment to fit the atmosphere. "We might not be billed for audiences like those, but we bring off the same class when we perform there. When you get a Bounty Killer to perform in front of a seated audience it's a good thing," said Bounty Killer. He also believes that dancehall artistes can add to the flavour of the show.

"The atmosphere is nice and relaxing and the people enjoy the show. They should do more dancehall acts. We can make a difference, we can add the same touch of class to that type of audience. They have Shaggy, Morgan Heritage and now Bounty Killer perform and it came off good," said Bounty Killer.

Bounty has already made a change in his music by singing love songs and he thinks that It's Okay can be classified as a Jazz song.

"What we in Jamaica call lover's rock, Americans call jazz and blues. Beres Hammond performed lover's rock at the Jazz festival. It's Okay is a kinda lover's rock, so I guess you can say yes, It's Okay can be seen as Jazz," said Bounty Killer.

One patron was very surprised to see Bounty Killer perform. "One, he wasn't listed for the show and two, it's a Jazz and Blues festival. However, his performance was very good as It's Okay kind of has a Jazzy flavour to it and he performed it very well. It was a nice addition to the Jazz setting," said Antonio.

The organisers of the festival were also pleased. "I think it was great; we are very happy that he performed. He is one of our top performers in Jamaica; he did a great job and he is a professional. It went very well. I spoke to him after the show and I called him a 'Jazz star' and he said he is an 'all star'. It was a positive vibe," said Walter Elmore, executive producer of the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival.

Mr. Elmore added that Bounty Killer, through his performance, brought dancehall into unfamiliar territory. "It was very good that he was there as he gave the audience, who wouldn't go to a dancehall show, the opportunity to see what goes on there in a very relaxing atmosphere. I think he is cool," said Elmore.

"My show is open to anybody. We celebrate the art of music. It's not a dancehall show, but if a dancehall act comes as a guest of another performer I have absolutely no problem with that," he said.

Although a ban was placed on Bounty Killer following his performance at last year's end of Carnival concert, ensuring that he did not perform on Reggae Sumfest 2005, a show produced by Walter Elmore, Elmore says the ban was enforced by the Coalition of Corporate Sponsors.

"The thing with Sumfest is that I only came into Jamaica to do the production work on the show. I really don't know what the problem was. I was told briefly, but he was banned by the Coalition of Corporate Sponsors," said Elmore.