The Jazz Artists

  • Slide 1

    Elan Trotman

    One of the most exciting up-and-comers among a new generation of saxophonists, Elan Trotman has emerged as an exhilarating force in the world of contemporary jazz. Born and raised in Barbados and educated at Berklee in Boston, Elan approaches jazz in his own way. Blending Caribbean rhythms from his roots with skillful horn textures, his playing is full of surprises. He has quickly become one of jazz's most thrilling and emotive performers as he continues to stand out and push boundaries as a composer, performer, teacher and recording artist. Dear Marvin is Trotman's eighth album and second on the Woodward Avenue Records imprint, and Brighter Days Ahead is his ninth.
    To listen to an interview with Elan on Island Jazz Chat podcast, click here
  • Slide 2

    Andy Narell

    Andy Narell recorded his first album as a leader in 1979 and has never looked back. He's spent the past 39 years exploring the possibilities of the steel pan in contemporary music, and is equally known as a jazz improviser and steel band composer. His work is the subject of two documentary films: Andy and the Jumbies and Calypso Fever. In 2017 Narell was inducted into the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame. His most recent album releases are We Kinda Music, a collection of new and experimental music for steel band, and Like a Child, on which Andy plays a sampled steel orchestra, a breakthrough project utilizing the plug-in Andy Narell Steel Pans/The Ellie Mannette Collection.
    To listen to an interview with Andy on Island Jazz Chat podcast, click here
  • Slide 3

    Dean Williams

    Multi-genre guitarist — jazz, world beat, and more — Dean Williams will be back on the Greens in 2023. Teacher, session guitarist to the stars and a memeber of the hallowed TriniJazz Project, Dean is part of a new generation of Trinidadian jazz musicians who are evolving the kaisojazz and Caribbean jazz idiom begun on the cusp of Independence. Fashion forward, fusion ready, Dean has played all over the world and is back with his quintet to continues his experiementation of jazz with a Caribbean flavour that has influences from rock, worldbeat, and has colours from Brazil, India and the African continent. His track "Li Jwe Gita" explores the Antillean vibe in the Caribbean and is the soundtrack to joy here.
  • Slide 4

    Clifford Charles

    Innovative Caribbean smooth jazz guitarist Clifford Charles from Trinidad and Tobago was influenced by the best guitarists in the business, such as George Benson, Norman Brown, Ronald "Boo" Hinkson, Lee Ritenour and Earl Klugh. For Clifford, jazz is the musical expression that brings the greatest satisfaction to both artist and audience when he commands a stage. His musical journey on the circuit sharpened Clifford's fiery, yet free-flowing style on the guitar. Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian and Trinidad's Fitzroy Coleman are also among his influences. So what can Caribbean and international music audiences expect from Clifford Charles? Nothing less than a tapestry of smooth jazz expression, created from the very soul of the artiste!
    To listen to an interview with Clifford on Island Jazz Chat podcast, click here
  • Slide 5

    Charmaine Forde

    Charmaine Forde is a widely acclaimed, versatile and authentic entertainer. Supremely vivacious and engaging, this native of Trinidad and Tobago demonstrated her gifts of exceptional musical talent as a singer and a magnetic personality at an early age. This launched her career in the entertainment field where she soon collaborated with Michael Boothman, Leston Paul and David Rudder with success. Yearning for further knowledge and experience in using music as a communication tool, she migrated to Florida where she performed to live audiences at public and private venues. Returning to Trinidad in 2018, this song stylist is an inspiration to a new generation of jazz singers in the island.
    To read a profile of Charmaine in Caribbean Beat magazine, click here.
  • Slide 5

    D Piano Girl Johanna

    D Piano Girl Johanna's ability to elevate any song with musical elegance and soulful energy is the hallmark of this fine pianist, whose solo career has taken great strides since she transformed Kes The Band's "Savannah Grass" into a musical elegy and memorial to the patriarch of the Dieffenthaller family. This rising star has used modern soca, and other genres of music as a platform for her arrangements that have awed audiences in Trinidad and Tobago, regional and international audiences at the Dominica Jazz Festival and Ubersoca Cruise, and showcased her versatility and musical dexterity. From child prodigy to popular entertainer and television co-host, Johanna's trajectory as a musical artist is one to watch.
  • Slide 5

    Len 'Boogsie' Sharpe

    Len 'Boogsie' Sharpe's appearance at Jazz Artists on the Greens™ 2023 is made possible by a Featured Artist Sponsorship courtesy the HADCO Group. Wikpedia succinctly describes Boogsie as "a successful and popular composer and arranger of steelpan music." He is much more than that. He is an iconic figure in the development of steelband and on the music composed and performed on the steelpan. In 1972 he had established Phase II Pan Groove, the band which he continues to lead today. The late Pat Bishop told us that with the band, "he has been enriching the music of Carnival with his own remarkable sense of sound, of harmony and rhythm and of the musical possibilities of the steel drum instrument in ensemble." Our icon, our Doctor of Letters (DLitt), Honoris Causa. He is Trinidad and Tobago's "Mozart of pan."
  • Slide 7

    Ju-Né

    Ju-né is an award winning inspirational singer who has big dreams of becoming a Jazz/Soul Artiste. While her professional music career is relatively new, this vocalist has the pipes of a seasoned performer. She has been compared to Ledisi and Jill Scott, but she has a surprise element which is all her own and that arrests her audience's attention from the moment she croons her first note. This Tobago-born artiste exudes a down to earth, authentic vibe, but she definitely sizzles with an undeniable charisma. Ju-né's choice to pursue a career as a singer has shown her that hard work and persistence pays off. As result, she approaches her art with passion and love, and intends to be a positive inspiration to both young and mature to showcase that anything is possible once you believe in yourself.
  • Slide 9

    Caribbean Steelpan Connextion Ensemble

    Caribbean Steelpan Connextion prides itself as being the vibes, passion and music of the Caribbean! Founded in 2017 to participate at Expo Astana in Kazakhstan, that pioneering work brought the sound of pan to that country for the first time. Expos have been a proving ground for steelpan in the past, and now, the enhanced group is moving to take the ensmeble to new spaces with new combinations of instruments outside the steelpan family. As producers of The World of Steel, a concert where the primary source of entertainment comes from the music of the steelpan, they have engaged with a wide audience and comntinue to develop a new fanbase. This is their Jazz Artists on the Greens™ debut
Jazz Artists on the Greens™

JAOTG™ 2023 Artists

We welcome world class regional and international talent from everywhere on to the JAOTG Stages. Contemporary jazz, steelpan jazz, a mix of jazz vocals and instrumental music will be offered to patrons at JAOTG™ 2023.

On the JAOTG™ GrandStage: On the SONGBIRDS...live!™ Stage Presented by Republic Bank: On The Greens Stage: