CME 2002 Joins With Music Bridges

The third annual Caribbean Music Expo (CME 2002) will be staged in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, from March 20 to 24, 2002 and will again include a series of panels and workshops, exhibits and performance showcases. CME 2002 however promises to take on a much bigger international profile as the organizers will be partnering with the internationally acclaimed songwriters retreat “Music Bridges Around the World”.

California based Music Bridges founder Alan Roy Scott, himself a former staff writer with Motown Records, was recently in Jamaica to finalize details about the CME/Music Bridges collaboration. According to a release from Scott’s office, Music Bridges Around the World has truly circled the globe, having been graciously hosted previously in Germany, Cuba, Ireland, Indonesia, Romania and the former USSR.

Music Bridges Jamaica will run from March 16 to 25, 2002, with the writing retreat slated for the Dragon Bay Hotel in Portland from March 17 to 22. All international and local participants of Music Bridges Jamaica will then move to Ocho Rios from March 22 to 25 to participate in the CME.

CME chairman Lloyd Stanbury says, “Local songwriters and performers and Jamaica’s tourism product will derive significant benefits from the CME/Music Bridges collaboration”. In its twelve years of operation so far, Music Bridges Around the World has included such songwriting and recording luminaries as Burt Bacharach, Michael Bolton, Montell Jordan, Gladys Knight, Mick Fleetwood, Lamont Dozier, Beth Neilsen Chapman, Bonnie Raitt, Stewart Copeland, Jimmy Buffet, Cyndi Lauper, N’Dea Davenport, Meshell Ndegeocello, Joan Osborne, Don Was and many others.

For music Bridges Jamaica, up to thirty top international songwriters and performers will be joined by thirty Jamaican songwriters and performers over five days to create new music. On March 24, 2002, all Music Bridges participants will join on stage in Ocho Rios in a grand concert to end CME 2002. This concert will be staged at Chris Blackwell’s new Island Village amphitheatre in Ocho Rios.

Several record company and media executives have already confirmed for CME 2002 including representatives of BMG Records, Arista Records, Jay Records, RAS Records, VP Records, Billboard Magazine, BRE Magazine, Music Business International, BET, and XM Satellite Radio. Over 40 Caribbean artistes will appear on the CME 2002 showcases covering genres such as Reggae, Salsa, Merengue, Soca and Pop in a series of concerts from March 20 to 24 at venues around Ocho Rios.

CME and Music Bridges Jamaica are both supported by the European Union funded Trade Development Project administered by JAMPRO. Other sponsors include the Dutch based International Institute for Communication and Development and the Jamaica Tourist Board. Visit the CME website at www.cme.com.jm to register online and to send showcase applications. The deadline for showcase applications is December 31st 2001.

Dated: 2002 January 3

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