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SUNSET JAZZ, TAKE 2: IT'S THE MUSIC OF PARADISE

Dec. 17, 2002 – Yes, there was a Sunset Jazz in Frederiksted concert last Friday. Yes, there's another this Friday. Santa season is like that. This musical gift to the community from the Frederiksted Economic Development Association will feature the smooth stylings of a band from across the waters — St. Thomas's Paradise.
As usual, the concert will take place in Veterans Park along the waterfront, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. — perfect timing to watch the sun set on the eve of the shortest day of the year. Admission is free.
Bass player Neil Simon, who grew up on St. Croix, is the leader of the group, which also comprises Winston "Winnie" Phillip on guitar, Nelson Petty Jr. on saxophone, Lonette James on keyboards and Jeffery Miniweather on drums.
Simon, who started out playing guitar, is from a very musical family. As a teen-ager, at his father's prodding, he switched to bass and played in Frederiksted's Seventh-day Adventist Church. At the age of 18, he played his first jazz gig with Benjamin Jacobs-El. He got his architectural engineering degree from New York University and while in New York recorded commercials and toured with Freddie Jackson and Billy Ocean. Since returning to St. Croix in 1988, he has worked with trumpeter Duke Jones, among others. His work can be heard on Jones's "Special Edition Collector's Album" and on the "Pier 69" CD.
Phillip, a composer/arranger as well as guitarist, got his first music lessons from his father and grandfather, both accomplished musicians in his native Antigua. By the age of 7, he was playing alongside them in clubs and roadhouses, and at 15 he was studying under George Benson at the Jazz Mobile in New York City by day and gigging nightly in the Village. He has performed in concert with Elton John, Andre Crouch, the Ramsey Lewis Quartet and pianist Louis Taylor. He recently opened the David Sandborn concert at the Reichhold Center on St. Thomas.
Petty got into music in the fourth grade, when his dad amassed enough instruments to form a children's band. He was soon playing drums in church and saxophone in school. After a couple of years, he went "into the woodshed" to practice and develop his sound, then emerged in his senior year at Charlotte Amalie High School as a member of the CAHS Jazz Combo. He got his degree in civil engineering at Florida A&M University, all the while tuned in to the likes of Coltrane, Brecker, Grover and Sandborn. Besides playing with Paradise, he performs in a sax duo and does solo gigs at the Old Mill Jazz Club.
James cites Bob James, Bobby Lyle and Anointed among her musical influences. Her early training came as a student in the piano lab at Addelita Cancryn Junior High School. At the University of the Virgin Islands, where she earned a BA in music education, she was a member of the UVI Jazz Ensemble and performed with the gospel group By Faith. She teaches music as well as performs and is in charge of the piano lab at Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School.
No background information was available about drummer Miniweather.
Sunset Jazz in Frederiksted concerts are sponsored by FEDA, which operates a cash bar, while Hispanos Unidos offers food for sale.
The early hour makes the concerts a natural for families with children, and attendees are encouraged to bring folding chairs or blankets to sit on the grass. Afterward, FEDA invites concertgoers to stay in town and enjoy dinner and/or additional entertainment.
The next concert, the first of the new year, will be on Jan. 17, with VI Art Ensemble in the spotlight. For more information, call 719-3672 or e-mail to Sunset Jazz.

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