JAZZ.FM91 - Canada's Premier Jazz Station

Colin Hunter and band at the Festival

Two things happened yesterday that are practically unheard of in the Riviera Maya. First, it - gasp - rained in the afternoon and second, there was a jazz concert at night! The first occurrence affected the second since the stage for the opening night of the festival was set up in a public square and the sound checks and start time got delayed by a couple of hours. But the people who crowded into the square to see the concert were undaunted. The Riviera Maya Jazz Festival is timed to coincide with the U.S. Thanksgiving for maximum tourist draw, but the audience for last night’s free concert was made up of more locals than tourists.

And so were the bands, as three of the acts were actually from Playa del Carmen, the town at the heart of the Riviera Maya. I have a theory about why there’s so much musical talent in a relatively small tourist town like Playa: as is true in a lot of places, being a musician doesn’t always put bread on the table, and the hospitality industry seems to be a natural draw for musicians (and actors and others in the arts) looking to supplement their income. So with thousands of people here employed in tourism, I guess it shouldn’t be surprising for local talent to surface and a sax player to be introduced as the head of the hotel association.

The Royal Band opened the evening and did a handful of originals that leaned toward the funkier, R&B side of jazz. Billed as smooth jazz, the 12-piece group draws from a mix of countries like Cuba and Argentina, and although there were touches of those cultural influences, the music was more L.A. Express than Latin American.

The second act, Aguamala, powered their way through a set of muscular fusion tunes that had the appreciative crowd head-bopping and cheering after extended solos. The tight four-piece outfit was totally in sync as they nimbly switched tempos mid-tune without batting an eye.

The last act I caught was the Chairman of the Board, a.k.a. Colin Hunter, CEO of Sunwing Vacations and crooner. Given how much the audience was into the hard-driving fusion of the previous band, I thought they might not be receptive to old-school swing and standards, but the crowd was with them all the way. Hunter’s Toronto-based band will be familiar to JAZZ.FM91 listeners, as Joe Sealy heads it up and Paul Novotny, Daniel Barnes and Perry White round it out. Hunter paid tribute to the masters as he covered classics like Sinatra’s "Come Fly With Me" and Dean Martin’s "Sway". The audience wouldn’t let up until they did an encore, and Hunter vowed to be back next year.

For the next three nights the festival moves to the beach and organizers are expecting 10,000 people for the closing night line-up of Pat Martino, Al Jarreau and Herbie Hancock. Hasta luego.