== SATURDAY AUGUST 13th ==

Day two got off to a late start (typical Trinibagonians) with good performances evident yet again. The organization of the show was definitely not as tight as it needed to be and there were huge gaps between the performances, but the performances were awesome. Early in the night patrons were warmed up to the rhythmic melodies of the steel drums. Then, Babyface warmed the hearts of the ladies. Nothing like "When can I see you again", to get the crowd in the mood. And how can we finish a night like this? Well there is only one UNFORGETTABLE answer... Natalie Cole, who many patrons said was the performance of the festival. Class, Poise, Beauty and so much feeling in her tremendous voice. What more can we say? It was a real treat! The show was capped off by a fine performance by the O'Jays who were simply amazing. And doh let their age fool ya... their voices were as strong as ever! The drawback to this was the ninety minute set up time they took. After all them hours standing on yuh feet, PRESSURE!!!

So after the concert done what do you do in tranquil Tobago? Well, have an After-party of course! We were staying in these two fly villas, each with its own swimming pool and the fete was by us that nite. "Bring a bottle" and come to "Hedotobago" was the slogan and the bottles definitely came. Rum, rum and more rum. Adesh Samaroo and the D'Hitman couldn't drink all the rum that came. How people find so much liquor at that hour of the morning is still a mystery to us. DJ Joy Juice got things started and it was hopping from the start and King International took it to another level. If yuh thought the Beach Party was sweet this was pure cane juice. Surprise guest DJ's Adrian Don Mora and Jus Jase put their unique stamps on the fete and the only thing missing to make this extra sweet was C.I.DEE Sound. Big up to our boys at "Hedolife" and everybody that pass thru.

== SUNDAY AUGUST 14th ==

As usual allyuh know we reach late even though we left home early for a change. We give up! :-) In any case, when you begin your night with performances like "Morena Osha" by Mavis John, its going to be an outstanding night. Ken Philmore and Robbie Greenidge made us all proud as they made the steelpan sing and the patrons dance along with them. The Mighty Sparrow also made us proug by giving us a taste of ole time Kaiso. India Arie was tight as expected, teasing the crowd with her neo-soul style, and pleasing listeners by singing her new unreleased single. But the surprise of the evening was a young fella named Michael Phelps who played the hell out of the saxophone. He's the only non-athlete to be sponsored by Nike and we could see why. In an effort to win over this new crowd, he belted out tune after tune and gave a powerful Jazz performance.

Amidst a full capacity crowd, that continued to grow, Doug E Fresh caught the pulse of the new patrons. Then, Stevie Wonder came on and he was absolutely worth waiting for. He blew everyone away singing old and new songs and was completely on point. Stevie surprised everybody and introduced Johnny Gill to sing "My My My" and trust us, it was wicked! Stevie finished off the night with more performances and songs than we can recite... the crowd was truly satisfied and could ask for nothing more.

One thing that was a little controversial was the move made by the promoters to open the gates to the general public on the Sunday. We talking about a venue already fairly full because of the thousand or so free promotional tickets that were given away, in addition to regular paying patrons. But with a bar and food court with limited stocks, you now run the risk of food and drinks running out, which is just not fair to folks that paid the $630 TT. Plus, everybody got to see the same entertainment for two different deals... some paid and some free!

So there you have it folks... all in all, TJJ and all crew had a great time and are looking forward to an improved Tobago Gourmet Jazz Festival next year. See yuh there!

Bandito & Scotty for TJJ out.