Sunset Jazz returns to Frederiksted on Friday with world renowned masters of jazz, Grammy award winner and Virgin Islander Dion Parson & the 21st Century Band. The event, starting at 6:00 p.m., kicks off the AgriFest weekend on St. Croix, according to a release issued by the Frederiksted Economic Development Association, Inc.
About Dion Parson & the 21st Century Band
In 1998, together with fellow Virgin Islander and saxophonist Ron Blake, Dion Parson launched 21st Century Band as a platform to showcase the music of the USVI. A Grammy award-winning drummer and composer, Mr. Parson put together a powerhouse ensemble.
Comprised of seven of the world’s finest musicians, the band features a fresh innovative sound that boasts a superb mix of U.S. Virgin Islands traditions such as Quelbe, and other Caribbean infusions like Reggae, Calypso, Soca, Mento, Ska, Zouk, Steel Pan, Chutney, and Funk with New Orleans and African overtones. The band’s core members include five musicians from the USVI, one from New Mexico, and one from West Africa. This diversity in background, along with their mastery of jazz, provides a camaraderie that helps to strengthen and hone the authentic feel of the band’s sound.
Together, the artists deliver their special brand of Caribbean Jazz with down-home sophistication and a high energy level that has audiences young and old soaring to their feet time and time again. Their soldout performances at prestigious venues like Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York City, have garnered rave reviews from fans and critics alike that the club has hosted the ensemble for week-long performances every year since June 2008. In addition, members of the band currently perform with a diverse group of all-star artists including Jon Faddis, the Dave Matthews Band, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, the Saturday Night Live Band, Dianne Reeves, Paquito D’Rivera, Babatunde Olatunji, Baaba Maal, and many more.
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