MONTEGO BAY, St James – Basking in the tremendous success of the recent staging of Reggae Sumfest, organisers of the annual event have now set their sights on the production of a jazz and blues music festival, which would likely be held at a venue in western Jamaica.

“Now that we have gotten off Sumfest, it is something that we have to look to now,” co-founder of Reggae Sumfest Robert Russell told the Jamaica Observer West, during Festival Night 2 at Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex on Saturday last.

He added that an announcement on the matter could be made as early as next year.

There have been calls for the staging of such an event since the Jazz and Blues Festival was last held at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium, almost four years ago.

The festival, which began in 1996 as the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, did not just cater to music fans, but was intended to attract visitors to our shores in what was a slow period for the Jamaican leisure industry.

Over the years the festival, which had several venue changes, while attracting huge crowds, saw a slew of international artistes performing on the show including Celine Dion, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Patti LaBelle, Diana Ross, Lionel Ritchie, Kenny Rogers, Air Supply, Maroon 5, Mariah Carey, The Pointer Sisters and Babyface.

Meanwhile, organisers of the recently concluded Reggae Sumfest have hailed it as the “biggest and best ever” in its history. They pointed to the massive crowds and excellent delivery by artistes, during its live performance nights last Friday and Saturday at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex.

“This is just awesome in every way. Spiritually-wise, no violence…and that is what Reggae Sumfest is all about. Last night (Friday) was very, very big, the biggest ever until tonight (Saturday). The good thing is that everybody was all working together, the fire department, the police, the health department,” Sumfest boss Josef Bogdanovich told Observer West, shortly before the show ended Sunday morning.

Robert Russell expressed similar sentiments.

“It is the biggest Sumfest ever, no question about that,” he stressed. “It went very, very well, everybody has done very well. The vendors are happy, the massive crowd is happy, the musicians, the security forces…everything has gone very well this year.”

Russell said the strong line-up of artistes was the main reason for the tremendous support from patrons.

“The line-up is one of the key ingredients for the success of any show, and we had a great line-up, and that manifested itself in the crowd support.”

The week-long festival kicked off on July 14, with the day party ‘Morning Medz’, followed the next day by the street party, which was open to the public. On July 16, the all-white event was another success, as was the all-black birthday celebrations for popular Trinidadian soca artiste Bunji Garlin.

Then came the Global Sound Clash, featuring Ricky Trooper and Pink Panther from Jamaica, Warrior Sound from Germany, Yard Beat from Japan, and King Turbo from Canada. Warrior Sound were crowned champions.

Festival Night 1 and Night 2 saw performances from Buju Banton, Beres Hammond, Chronixx, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Protoje, Jah9, Etana, Spice, Dalton Harris, Spragga Benz, Koffee, Agent Sasco, Romain Virgo and Christopher Martin.