Excitement at Fever Pitch for Bequia Mount Gay Music Fest 2011!

The Bequia Mount Gay Music Fest 2011 is less than seven days away but it’s not too late to get tickets for this star-packed event from the numerous outlets in Bequia or from Quik-Print and The Bounty restaurant in St. Vincent!{{more}}

If you are planning to be in Bequia for the full weekend you are in for a feast of Blues at its very best on Friday night when, thanks to Basil Charles, the superb Mustique Blues Festival comes to Bequia for one night only. Dana Gillespie and her London Blues Band will be joined on stage by headlining pianists Paddy Milner and Dino Baptiste, British blues guitarists Lewis Cohen and Ian Siegal, and Detroit-based guitarist Marcus Malone.

The Grenadine island of Bequia is buzzing with the prospect of welcoming the world-famous Barbados-born saxophonist Arturo Tappin to its big little Music Fest on Saturday night. Known as the “saxiest” horn man in the Caribbean, Tappin has dazzled audiences at the Soho Jazz Festival, the Bob Marley Birthday Bash and Reggae Sunsplash, as well as headlining Jazz festivals throughout the Caribbean. He also has performed with the legendary Roberta Flack, hard bop trumpeter Red Rodney, Grammy award-winning drummer Roy Haynes, and Reggae superstar Maxi Priest.

In his international career, Arturo Tappin has had the rare privilege of playing not only for two American Presidents – President Bill Clinton at the Governor General’s residence in Barbados, and more recently for President Barack Obama at the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago – but also for Cuba’s President Fidel Castro and Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

No less excitement surrounds the return of award-winning band NEXCYX who thrilled the packed crowd with their amazing performance at the Bequia Mount Gay Music Fest in 2010. Since that first Bequia appearance, NEXCYX has shared the stage with Angie Stone and Erykah Badu and played at major music events throughout the Caribbean. They have also appeared at “South by Southwest” (SXSW), in Austin, Texas, one of the world’s largest gatherings of music industry players. In January 2011, NEXCYX was voted MTV Artist of the Week, edging out four other international bands in an intense online-poll, and was honoured with no less than four Barbados Music Award category nominations.

To the delight of his many Bequia fans, the extraordinary guitarist Toby Armstrong is returning to Bequia for the 6th year running, joined by David “Ziggie” Walcott on pan and drummer Jamal Browne. Completing the “Bajan Invajan” is the hugely popular modern Rock, Reggae and Alternative band “Look Hooz Left” with Bequia favourites Scott Zimmerman on lead guitar, and Garvie Griffith (guitar and vocals), Kirk Redman (drums) and Marius Charlemagne (bass).

With a free afternoon Blues and Jazz Jam by the beach at the Bequia Beach Hotel on Saturday, and a laid-back Sunday afternoon music session at De Reef (admission only EC$25 at the gate) with De Real Ting Bequia string band, the Denzil Bacchus Blues Band, the Bequia Blues Band, The Honky Tonics with Jan & Louis, multi-award winning US blues and jazz pianist David Maxwell, the amazing “Look Hooz Left” and surprise finale appearances, the Bequia Mount Gay Music Fest three-day weekend is an absolute must for music lovers of all ages.

See the full line-up and details of ticket prices on www.bequiatourism.com/bequiamusicfest.