GEORGE DUKE and Giovanni Hidalgo will be two of the featured artistes performing at the sixth annual FirstCaribbean Christmas Jazz show which kicks off next Sunday 14th December 2008 at the Plantation Garden Theatre.

Duke, a piano and a synthesizer pioneer and singer made a name for himself with the album The Jean-Luc Ponty Experience With The George Duke Trio. He is known for his solo work as well as for his collaborations with other musicians, particularly Frank Zappa.

Duke has produced five Grammy award-winning albums including Dianne Reeves' The Calling and Natalie Cole's Teach Me Tonight.

Duke's other high-profile collaborators include Al Jarreau, Michael Jackson, Earth Wind & Fire, Stanley Clarke, Cannonball Adderley, Deniece Williams, Jeffrey Osborne, George Clinton, Anita Baker, Rachelle Ferrell, Marilyn Scott, and Mike Mainieri's fusion group, Steps Ahead.

He also served as a producer and composer for two instrumental tracks on Miles Davis' albums: Backyard Ritual and Cobra. He has also worked with a number of notable Brazilian musicians, including singer Milton Nascimiento, percussionist Airto Moreira and singer Flora Purim.

Musical director

Duke has also worked as a musical director at numerous large scale musical events, including the Nelson Mandela tribute concert at Wembley Stadium, London, in 1988. The following year he temporarily replaced Marcus Miller as musical director of NBC's acclaimed late-night music performance programme, Sunday Night, during its first season.

Duke's songs have also been used by a wide variety of contemporary musicians in a wide array of genres.

Recently, Duke worked with Jill Scott on the third single from her sophomore album Whenever You're Around.

Puerto Rican-born Giovanni Hidalgo, who began playing percussion at the age of five, was born into a family of musicians. Giovanni first played on a set of congas handcrafted by his father, Jose "Mane�gue" Hidalgo. He also practised on other percussion instruments, developing the lightning precision technique for which he is noted today.

Giovanni first became popular outside of Puerto Rico in the early 1980s when travelling to Cuba to work with the group Batacumbele. Hidalgo then appeared on Batacumele's debut album showing off his incredible hand-drumming technique. Inspired by his method, Cuban musicians incorporated it into their own hybrid musical style called Songo.

While performing with Eddie Palmieri in New York, Giovanni forged another life-long friendship, this time with Dizzy Gillespie, with whom he toured in 1988 as a member of Gillespie's United Nations Orchestra. He has also toured extensively with Tito Puente and Mickey Hart's Planet Drum, and has performed with the likes of Dave Valentin, Paquito d'Rivera, and Carlos Santana.

SOME TOP NAMES in local entertainment are taking to the stage in yet another drive to raise funds for the surgery on teenager Kerwyn Deshong.

Mac Fingall, Caryln Leacock, John King, Tony Grazette, Richard Stoute and Gabby will be among those performing at the special evening of music at the Shades of Black club on Roebuck Street on Friday 12th December 2008 at 8 p.m.

Also volunteering their services are Smokey Burke, Adrian Clarke, Desmond Weekes and MC Wayne Cool Simmons.

A group of concerned citizens headed by businesswoman Evadne Brewster-Wiltshire along with Sandra Charles, Phyllis Millar and James Paul were moved to get involved when they saw Deshong's plight highlighted in THE NATION, and the large amount of money required to have a disfiguring tumour removed from the young boy's face.

Deshong's surgery will cost more than $254 000, and to date donations to a fund started at FirstCaribbean Bank for the purpose, and other contributions, stand close to $135 000.

Organisers of Friday night's show will be opening a supplementary account at the RBC Royal Bank of Canada under the name The Kerwyn Deshong Fund, hoping to get closer to the required target.

Article by Stephanie Chase

The 2009 Barbados Music Awards got off to an awesome start on Sunday 2nd November 2008 as entertainers representing various genres gathered at The Sir Garfield Sobers Gymnasium to participate in the nomination process. They filled out their ballots and articulated their reasons for nominated specific artists. Around 7pm the official launch of the BMAs took place with power point presentations of the nominees. International singer Regina Belle will be receiving the International Lifetime Achievement Award. Access to the event will be by VIP tickets only. Take a look below at the 2009 Nominees !!!

Article by Stephanie Chase

The Barbados Music Awards are off to a rocking start!! The general public is up in arms trying to decide which artist will win the very coveted prizes. Some may argue that some of the most popular artists were not nominated but we wish to remind readers that there was a set criteria, which was followed. For the next 8 weeks GotRhythm.Com will feature some of the nominees who are part of the GotRhythm.Com family. To kick our feature off we start with Anderson BLOOD Armstrong. He has been nominated for Lifetime Achievement Award - Square One; Producer of the Year; Best Collaboration with Tara for This Is Fete; Best Soca (up-tempo) Single for That Is What I Talking Bout; Soca / Calypso Album Of The Year for Blood Ties which is also up for the Album of the Year.

Just returning from am overseas performance GotRhythm.Com was able to have the following exclusive interview.

Anderson Armstrong was born on February 1, 1968 in Barbados. Andy also known as Andy "Blood" Armstrong is one of the most talented males currently on the Soca scene. Many wonder why Andy is nicknamed "Blood", but wonder no more. Young Blood was a name I got from the Mighty Gabby by accident. He could not remember my name when I first met with him and he wrote it on a cassette. At first I thought he had given me the wrong one but then I realized what he had done. I liked it and I used the name. Over time people would just call me Blood and so today that is what I use on stage." He started singing as a choirboy while at primary school. Andy began singing in local competitions back in 1983 while still in high school. At that time he made his professional debut in the Richard Stoute Teen Talent Contest. There he made it all the way to the finals performing his own compositions. That same year he participated under the guidance of his mentor, The Mighty Gabby, in Gabbys first timers Calypso Contest. The following year (1984), with the encouragement of then school teacher and tent manager, Mac Fingall, he joined The Untouchables Calypso Tent. There he shared the stage with seven time Calypso Monarch of Barbados, The Ragga-Ragga King Red Plastic Bag. In 1985, at the age of 17, Andy Armstrong became the youngest person ever to make the National Calypso Finals in Barbados. Performing under the sobriquet "Young Blood" he placed fifth in the competition which was won by The Mighty Gabby. One of his biggest career moves to date was when, in 1986, he along with his friend and former school mate, George Jones became founding members of one of Barbados most prominent and one of the Caribbean's leading party bands over the last 2 decades, Square One. Paul Slater, Cecil Riley and Winston Beckles were also founding members of the band. Blood, as he is affectionately known, was the lead vocalist and guitarist with the band. Square One went on to record several albums where Blood was featured on lead vocals. These included Special, and Eat, Drink and Be Merry on which the song Party Can Done received a Caribbean Music Award nomination.

The following include other albums recorded by the band on which Blood is also featured as a lead vocalist. 4 Sides Sweetness which contains the mega-hit Turn It Around alias The Plumber In Full Bloom Fast Forward Champions Unity Higher Heights Missing Files Sugary The Plumber has been No. 1 on the Caribbean charts around the world in countries such as England, Canada, Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Maarten, almost all of the English speaking Caribbean and New York where it spent an incredible 16 weeks at No. 1 on WLIBs Caribbean Top Ten charts. Andy Armstrong, along with Square One, has toured extensively throughout the English, French, Dutch and Spanish speaking countries, as well as the Caribbean, North and South America and Europe. Another touring achievement for both Blood and the band would have been their historic tour to South Africa to perform for World Cup Cricket in 2003.

He is known for his explosive, dynamic and high-energy performances and his versatility as a singer. From Lionel Richie to Louis Armstrong to BUJU Banton, Andy covers each music genre with consummate ease. His debut solo album Conscience Call was just another step towards his never-ending quest for maximum musical success. Since that time, he has recorded and produced several solo and compilation albums. These include Maniac, his 20th Anniversary album Blood 20_03, Bootleg, a Christmas album Christmas Rendezvous, and Pause. These albums have featured several hit songs which include Pokemon, Turn It Around (Plumber) and Kitty Kat, Turn It Up. In 2006, his albums include Thicker than Water and the compilation Burning Soca. Andy has achieved yet another major accomplishment in his life, where he has built one of the top recording studios on the island from the ground up. Here he has recorded and worked with several of the festivals well known stars such as Red Plastic Bag, Mac Fingall, Alison Hinds, Terry Arthur and the recent additions Mikey, Contone and Pong. Anderson has received several awards and has been recognized as an accomplished artist in the Calypso arena.

(NEW YORK, NY October 10, 2008) - Rarely does a young artist make an entrance as confident, well-rounded and flawless as SRP/SRC/Universal Motown singer-songwriter SHONTELLE. Her debut single "T-Shirt" has zoomed into the top 30 of iTunes most-downloaded Top Songs chart, and within a month of release to radio, has rammed the national Top 20 in pop-formatted airplay, spinning at over 150 mainstream Top 40 and rhythmic-crossover radio stations across America. The serene and sensual "T-Shirt" video clip has drawn over 1.1 million audio streams on the artist's MySpace.com page and a similar number of video hits on YouTube.com.

And it gets better from there ... much better. SHONTELLE's debut album SHONTELLIGENCE, is a state-of-the-art, magnetic and musically comprehensive playlist for today's global pop and urban music fan -- an unmistakable giant step onto center stage for the 23-year old native of Bridgetown, Barbados. The album is scheduled for release on November 18, 2008, through SRP Records' affiliation with SRC, the Universal Motown-distributed imprint of hip-hop entrepreneur and urban marketing innovator Steve Rifkind, making her the label-mate of the SRC platinum-plus artists Akon and David Banner. SHONTELLE's debut also features the idealistic and inspiring "Battle Cry," which was chosen for the unique all-star CD/download compilation Yes We Can: Voices of a Grassroots Movement, developed for the Presidential campaign of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

In the eleven songs of SHONTELLIGENCE, she takes ownership of a musical palette that broadens and deepens with each successive track. Throughout the album, SHONTELLE's voice is assertive and exuberant, with an impressive lyrical consciousness enveloping a boundary-busting pop-urban spectrum, from the multicultural riddim-centric soca of "Roll" and "Focus Pon Me" to the reggae tracks "Life is Not an Easy Road", "Crave You" and "Flesh and Bone". There's also a literate and progressive neo-soul vibe to "Superwoman", "Plastic People" and "Ghetto Lullaby" and a retro/alternative urban note in "Cold Cold Summer".

Like the most talented of today's young entertainers, Shontelle Layne made her mark first as a writer, co-composing the award-winning soca smash and girl-power anthem "Roll" in 2005. Producer/songwriters Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken of SRP Records, whose production company had previously discovered and launched fellow Bajan native Rihanna as a worldwide superstar, had sought to contact the writer of "Roll" with a view to creating a cover for the international market. They were first stunned, and then delighted, to recognize that the hit songwriter -- and straight-A entertainment law student -- had all the makings of a world-class performer as well. "We couldn't believe that Shontelle was such a great singer, and so young and beautiful, and hadn't been discovered yet.", says Rogers.

Shontelle joined the SRP production company, and recorded her album, co-writing with producers Sturken and Rogers, and collaborating with other A-list hitmakers, including Wayne Wilkins and Andrew Frampton ("T-Shirt") Stargate ("Superwoman") and the Heavyweights and the Jam ("Battle Cry"), as well as the hometown Barbados-based teams Classic Soul ("Focus Pon Me") and De Red Boys ("Crave You"). She signed with Steve Rifkind's SRC Records early in 2008. Shontelle is managed by a seasoned team comprising of "Bajan" Artiste manager Sonia Mullins and New York based Rebel One Management (Rihanna).

Defining "intelligence" recently to an interviewer as "the gathering of new knowledge or information, the ability to comprehend and profit from experience", SHONTELLE reflected that "knowledge ... feeds my life and my music. The more I learn, the more I want to learn ... the more I grow as a person, and as an artist".