The week prior to the festival, there will be several concerts on various locations on the island.
Concerts
August 25 | Brion Square
Israel and New Breed
Israel and New Breed is the band formed around Israel Houghton, an American Christian singer and worship leader. He is known for his cross-cultural style of Christian music that fuses elements from gospel, jazz and rock. Houghton won five Grammy Awards and the group performed with artists such as Alicia Keys, Aretha Franklin and BeBe Winans.Houghton formed New Breed Ministries in 1995 with his wife and a collection of musicians and singers. Their first album, New Season, was recorded live in Cornerstone Church in Toledo, Ohio and released in 2001. Their latest album Jesus At The Center: Live was released in 2012.
August 26 | Brion Square
El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico
El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico is a Puerto Rican salsa orchestra that celebrated its fiftieth anniversary last year. The ensemble even received the nickname ‘La Universidad de la Salsa’ (The University of Salsa) due to the large number of artists who worked together with the orchestra, often beginning their career that way. In 1962, El Gran Combo was founded by Rafael Ithier. He and alto saxophonist Eddie Perez are the only two remaining original members. Under the guidance of Ithier, the band developed a unique and recognizable sound. That sound made for a huge number of hits; every salsero knows songs like La Muerte, Ojos Chinos, No Hago Mas Na, Timbalero, Un Verano En Nueva York en Me Libere. Even after all this time, El Gran Combo is still going strong.
August 29 | Brakkeput Mei Mei
José James
American singer José James (1978) broke through in 2008 with his album The Dreamer. He is sometimes called “a jazz singer for the hip hop generation” en creates his own unique style by combining jazz, soul, drum ’n bass and spoken word. He lists John Coltrane, Marvin Gaye and Billie Holiday as his influences. In 2010, he released his second album, Blackmagic, and also worked together with Belgian pianist Jeff Neve on an album with standards, For All We Know, which was recorded in just one day. James has performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam several times and toured as a headliner through the US, Europe and Asia. Last january saw the release of his latest album No Beginning, No End, his first on renowned record label Blue Note, which he signed with last year.
