The Tribune

By FARAH

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

ENCOURAGING young musicians to pursue their gifts to a “superior level” has always been a goal for Jazz artist Naomi Taylor-Crawford.

She has been on a mission to bring out the best in youth through music, discipline and character building. Through various efforts, including Jazz at Jacaranda and the All That Jazz festival that takes place annually in Eleuthera, Naomi has mentored a number of up-and-coming musicians who exhibit great promise in their craft.

“Though jazz is my music of choice I want the young people that we work with to perform and make music at a superior level and not just see it as something just to get by,” she told In Ya Ear. “If there is a young person that we see has the talent and seem to be serious, we would take that person and help them as much as we can and give them free classes and help them.”  

When working with the young musicians, Naomi said she always does her best to get them to see the importance of striving for excellence.

“There are a lot of young people who are musically misguided, and a lot of them feel that since they can play with a Junkanoo group, they do not have to worry about the quality of their sound or they do not have to worry about reading music. We want to raise the bar with the young people and get them striving to become outstanding musicians,” she said.

Naomi and her team work with the musicians throughout the month and on the first Sunday they have an opportunity to perform during Jazz at Jacaranda, which she said has provided a great platform for the musicians.

“We have seen them develop and get gigs with other bands. We realise that there is a need to boost the arts and entertainment community. Someone has to do something different to get different results. This is our small way to giving the community that boost.

“We have been doing Jazz at Jacaranda for sometime now and it was only going to be a summer series. It was so great that we decided we will do it on a monthly basis, with the purpose of providing an outlet for jazz musicians,” she said.

Jazz at Jacaranda is the brainchild of Naomi and her husband, Clinton. Not only did few platforms for jazz musicians existed locally when the duo first started Jazz at Jacarada but she said there was also no place for people to gather who appreciate jazz.

“We thought this would also be a great way to bring together the community of jazz lovers here. We thought the event would also break down the divides and bring people together for the love of the music,” she said.

Naomi and her team also partnered with the Haynes Library in Governor’s Harbour to present All That Jazz at an annual festival that takes place in March.

“For the last two years we started the event and we bring international headliners to perform. We also use the festival as an opportunity for local musicians to form relationships with international musicians. At the same time the festival boosts the economy of Eleuthera and the proceeds supports the Haynes Library.”

In the meantime, the Vice Versa band, of which Naomi is the vocalist, will release an album for their fans. After hearing the band perform every Tuesday and Thursday at the British Colonial Hilton, Naomi said people often request a CD with their music. Unfortunately the band does not have one.

“There is a demand for our music and although we have our own individual recordings we do not have recordings with the entire band. So this is something that we are working on right now,” she said.