WICO Opens 2016 With ‘Musical Explosion’ Jazz Concert

ST. THOMAS — The West Indian Company, Ltd (WICO) will set off its 2016 concert year with “A Musical Explosion” on Tuesday, January 19, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., in the WICO dock gazebo area, a press release the semiautonomous entity issued on Thursday makes known.

The V.I. Youth Ensemble with special guests Anthony Nelson and Charenee Wade will open the evening’s performance.

According to the releases, the VI Youth Ensemble is designed to groom the musical skills of a select group of high school musicians. Working with band directors, Grammy award-winning drummer and United Jazz Foundation creator Dion Parson selects local high school students to be part of a prestigious ensemble with the goal of developing a group with a talent level that will enable them to go ‘on the road’ to high school musical competitions around the United States.

Saxophonist and United Jazz Foundation (UJF) Artist-in-Residence Anthony E. Nelson ignites fans with his melodic originality. He fuses jazz’s classic tranquility, gospel’s spirituality, funk’s rougher edges, and neo-soul’s undeniable velvet ease to produce a sound unlike anything on today’s shelves.

While his performance skills were created and sharpened growing up playing in clubs, Mr. Nelson decided to further his professional studies by enrolling at the University of the District of Columbia and later went on to William Paterson University under the tutelage of Gary Smulyan and Vincent Herring.

UJF’s Vocal Specialist Charenee Wade is a notable singer, composer, arranger and educator. She received her degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Her accolades include first runner-up in the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Vocal Competition, the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program where she performed her original music at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; and the prestigious Dianne Reeves Young Artist Workshop at Carnegie Hall. Charenee is currently a professor at the Aaron Copland School of Music, City College, NJPAC Jazz for Teens.

Ms. Charenee performs internationally and has graced the stages of the Jazz Gallery and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy Coca Cola’s. Her latest CD, titled Offering, was released on Motema Music last June.

Full Circle will return for another turn as headliners on the WICO concert stage. The band features the smooth vocals of Detra “Songbird” Davis supported by the Lionel “Majic” Mulraine on drums, Hubert “Pabo” Fredricks on keyboards, and Calvin “Cinque” Donovan on bass.

“We expect 2016 will be a very exciting year for us, so we’re starting our community outreach by featuring groups that reflect our ambitious and progressive spirit,” said WICO President and CEO Joseph B. Boschulte.

Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas will make its inaugural call on the St. Thomas. The ship will be in port from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Norwegian Escape will be in port from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Carnival Valor will be at the WICO dock from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

A Musical Explosion is sponsored by The West Indian Company, Ltd, the United Jazz Foundation, Mentoring through the Arts of Music, the Department of Planning and Natural Resources, The University of the Virgin Islands, Avis, the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts and the U.S.V.I. Department of Tourism.

The WICO Jazz on the Dock concert series is free and open to the public.

Feature Image: Charenee Wade.