DETROIT, USA (Reuters) -- Children's music is dominating Ziggy Marley's melody making these days -- both for himself and on behalf of his father, Bob Marley. He'll follow "Family Time" with the June release of a set of Bob Marley song's, revised and remastered with a children's audience in mind. read more...

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BASSETERRE, St Kitts: Top entertainer and dancehall music rising star Mavado will be among the premier acts at the 13th Annual St Kitts Music Festival, which will take place on the island from June 25-27, 2009. Born David Brooks in Kingston, Jamaica, he was inspired to sing in church by his grandmother. read more...

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CHARLESTOWN, Nevis: The leading summer festival in Nevis, Culturama, will feel the effects of the global recession and organisers disclosed, ahead of the 35th anniversary event, that patrons could expect a shortened version due to a likely reduction in monetary sponsorship, according to the committee chairman. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana: International hip-hop star Faheem Najm, called t-Pain, was slapped with a lawsuit on Monday in Broward Circuit Court, Florida, for cancelling a major concert in Guyana last month because of alleged kidnap and death threats. T-Pain failed to appear after being paid $75,000 in advance. read more...

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BASSETERRE, St Kitts: Popular entertainer and multiple Emmy Award winning actor Keith David will be serving as special guest host for the 13th Annual St Kitts Music Festival, which will take place on the island from June 25-27, 2009. David is a distinguished film, television and voice-over actor. read more...

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SCARBOROUGH, Tobago: Travelers in search of a unique fusion of music and culture and one of the best beach scenes in the world are invited to attend Tobago Jazz Experience 2009. The four-day music festival will run from Wednesday, April 22 through Sunday, April 26, 2009. read more...

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BASSETERRE, St Kitts: Popular entertainer and Grammy Award Winning artist Regina Belle will be among the premier acts at the 13th Annual St Kitts Music Festival, which will take place on the island from June 25-27, 2009. She is best known for "A Whole New World" from Disney's movie Aladdin. read more...

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MIAMI, USA: South Florida’s premier public media outlet, WPBT2, in an effort to engage all communities with an emphasis on the Haitian and larger Caribbean community, is launching Connections, an original public affairs program aimed at uniting the different perspectives present in the South Florida community. read more...

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KRALENDIJK, Bonaire: This year, a very popular Bonaire tradition will return to the island, when the Fifth Annual Bonaire Heineken Jazz Festival takes place on June 4 through 7, 2009. A variety of music styles will be heard around the island when internationally famous musicians mingle with the island’s local bands. read more...

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MIAMI, USA (JIS): The 16th annual Caribbean Music Festival honouring the life and philosophy of the late legendary reggae star, Robert Nesta Marley, will be held on February 28, in downtown Miami, Florida, in the United States. This year's event will also feature a tribute to the late Cedella Marley Booker. read more...

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GEORGETOWN, Guyana: The Copyright Advocacy Group for Music and Arts (CAGMA) has launched a project aimed at edifying Caribbean recording artistes, publishers, writers, performers and music industry stake holders about the administrative aspects of copyright, its advancement and challenges. read more...

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BRADES, Montserrat: On January 23, 2009, the Montserrat Cultural Centre unveiled a “Wall of Fame” with bronze hand casts of Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John and Mark Knopfler. The casts signify the ‘helping hand’ they provided by performing in the Music for Montserrat concert at the Royal Albert Hall. read more...

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WASHINGTON, USA (JIS): Rare photographs providing a unique glimpse into the life of the late reggae king, Bob Marley, are now on display at the Govinda Gallery, in Washington, DC. The exhibition is entitled, Soul Rebel: An Intimate Portrait of Bob Marley. It comprises some 40 never-before-seen photos. read more...

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KINGSTON, Jamaica (OPM): Prime Minister Bruce Golding has called for a set of recommendations on the action and the direction to be taken to clean up the music that is broadcast or projected in public spaces. Education Minister Andrew Holness said that for too long we have allowed our culture to just evolve. read more...

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) announced on Monday that Mega TV Puerto Rico, its Network and affiliates will be the official medium to broadcast the "Miss Mundo Puerto Rico 2009" beauty pageant and all related programming of the event. read more...

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NEW YORK, USA (Reuters): Bob Marley's family has teamed up with a private equity group to handle licensing of the late Jamaican reggae legend's likeness, trademarks and themes on retail products ranging from apparel to video games. Hilco Consumer Capital will license products with the Bob Marley family of brands. read more...

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NEW YORK, USA (Reuters): More than 55 years after she began performing in the calypso tents of Trinidad, pioneering singer Calypso Rose has released a new album aimed at taking her music to a more diversified international audience. "Calypso Rose" revamps several traditional calypso. read more...

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KINGSTON, Jamaica: Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival is estimated to have stimulated economic activity within the tourism capital to the tune of J$1 billion (US $10.2 million), Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett announced. The Sunday Gleaner reported that the figure was in line with the estimate made last year. read more...

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MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (JIS): With less than a week before the start of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, Executive Producer of the festival and President of Turnkey Productions, Walter Elmore, said preparations are on target. The festival, which is in its 11th year, will be held at the Aqueduct in Rose Hall. read more...

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad: The Mighty Duke, who was crowned Calypso King of Trinidad and Tobago on four successive occasions in the late 1960s, died on Wednesday, two days after the death of another popular calypsonian, Clarence Butler, known as Saccharine. read more...

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NEW YORK, USA (Reuters): The Jamaican dancehall musician Serani didn't intend to be a performer when he entered the music business as a producer in 2001, but he's now poised to become the genre's next star. In December, his decidedly pop-flavored "No Games" debuted at No. 55 on Billboard's Hip Hop chart. read more...

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NEW YORK, USA: Guyanese soul singer Nhojj heads to the 4th Annual Barbados Music Awards on January 4, 2009 to perform his sensual ballad “Love.” The ceremony will be held at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre in Barbados, and will be viewed globally via live web broadcast. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters): The cinematic paella on offer at movie houses throughout this buoyantly dilapidated sprawl of a Latin city is peppered with several nonregional films and even a pinch of top-shelf Hollywood ingredients. Argentine director Pablo Trapero's female-prison drama "Leonera" opened the festival. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters): Cubans over the weekend applauded a US director's new movie on Ernesto "Che" Guevara for its accurate portrayal of his fabled role in Cuba's revolution. They packed into two cinemas to see "Che," a four-hour epic directed by Steven Soderbergh. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): Actor Benicio del Toro, in Havana to unveil his portrayal of Cuban revolutionary hero Ernest Che Guevara in two Stephen Soderbergh films, urged longtime US enemies the US and Cuba to start talking. He said he expects that under Obama the countries "will make some progress, and start talking." read more...

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CASTRIES, St Lucia: One of St Lucia's multi-talented ladies, Mathurin Emmanuel -- actress, director and screenwriter -- is ready for the debut of her fourth film entitled "Nana's Paradise. Her first production was a short feature film commissioned by the Substance Abuse Secretariat titled "Tears in the Valley". read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): Acclaimed filmmaker Mike Leigh was in Cuba to receive an award at a film festival that will screen 10 of his best productions, according to local reports. Havana's 30th Latin American Cinema Festival was to screen "Bleak Moments" (1971), Leigh's big-screen debut. read more...

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THE VALLEY, Anguilla: The Second Annual Festival Del Mar, a community based culinary event celebrating the freshest catch from the sea and the fishermen who provide it, is set for Easter Weekend, April 11 & 12, 2009. On an island where amazing cuisine is a birthright, Anguilla's cultural festival is all about food. read more...

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NEW YORK, USA (JIS): 'Made In Jamaica', a feature film chronicling the development of reggae music, will enjoy special billing during the 16th annual African Diaspora Film Festival (ADFF) in New York City from November 28 to December 16.  The 108-minute feature was shot in Jamaica and France. read more...

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NEW YORK, USA: As the Cayman Islands prepares for the action-packed Cayman jazz fest, BET J is getting visitors excited for this fifth anniversary of the festival sounding out in the idyllic Caribbean location from December 4 to 6, 2008. "We are expecting another stellar production in paradise... read more...

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NEW YORK, USA (JIS): The Jamaica Tourist Board, has taken over as title sponsor of the annual Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival, which will take place from January 22 to 24. The Festival, Jamaica's premiere music event, will once again feature three nights of A-list performances. read more...

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KINGSTON, Jamaica (OPM): Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding, led the tributes at Sunday's service of thanksgiving for the life of music pioneer, Byron Lee, at the Abe Issa Auditorium at St George's College in Kingston. The Prime Minister said Byron Lee stamped his own influence on the music. read more...

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Based on what I read on BBC Caribbean News, Popular Barbadian and Caribbean calypsoian John King thinks there is an international conspiracy against that popular Eastern Caribbean music genre. However, I personally believe that soca/calypso will break into the international music market. read more...

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HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters): "Che," the movie about Argentine Ernesto "Che" Guevara who fought alongside Fidel Castro in the Cuban revolution, will be shown next month in Cuba, the director of Havana's New Latin American Film Festival said. Puerto Rican-born actor Benicio Del Toro played the role of Che. read more...

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CASTRIES, St Lucia: OECS Director General Dr Len Ishmael has written to Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding expressing deepest sympathy on behalf of the OECS Secretariat on the passing of the legendary Jamaican and Caribbean musician Byron Lee, who died in his native Jamaica on Tuesday. read more...

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KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS): Olivia "Babsy" Grange, Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports with responsibility for Entertainment, has said that she is deeply saddened by the passing of Jamaican music pioneer and bandleader extraordinaire, Byron Lee, who died Tuesday morning. read more...

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad: Well known calypsonian Leroy ‘Black Stalin’ Calliste, immortalised for his ‘Caribbean Man’ calypso, was conferred with an honorary doctorate from the University of the West Indies (UWI). He was the third calypsonian to have received an honorary doctorate from the UWI. read more...

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KINGSTON, Jamaica: Contrary to earlier reports, well-known bandleader Byron Lee, who entertained the Caribbean for more than 50 years, was in fact alive and resting comfortably in the Tony Thwaites Wing of the University Hospital of the West Indies in Jamaica, according to a statement by the hospital. read more...

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BASSETERRE, St Kitts: Staying true to the island’s deep-rooted musical heritage that remains a key component of its culture today, St. Kitts continues to grow as a premier destination for music events in the Caribbean. St Kitts served as the host destination for the 6th Annual International Soca Awards. read more...

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NEW YORK, USA: The spirit of Trinidad and Tobago's carnival comes to New York this Thursday, October 30 when Caribbean-owned special events company, Antilia, Inc. and the Trinidad and Tobago Tourism Development Company (TDC) join forces to host an evening of entertainment and elegance. read more...

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