Caribbean music has achieved a monumental milestone as Kes the Band, in collaboration with renowned Trinidadian trumpeter Etienne Charles, has completely sold out their two-night Unity Jazz Festival at New York’s prestigious Jazz at Lincoln Center on January 8-9. This extraordinary achievement underscores the growing global appreciation for Afro-Caribbean musical traditions.
The festival represents a watershed moment for Caribbean artists, marking their ascendancy onto one of the world’s most iconic cultural stages. The event forms an integral part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 38th season programming, which celebrates ‘Mother Africa’ and honors the profound influence of Afro-diasporic music across jazz and related musical traditions.
Adding to their acclaim, the band received prominent feature coverage in the January 7 edition of The New York Times, further validating their artistic significance. The performances will showcase specially reimagined arrangements from Kes the Band’s extensive catalog, creatively blending soca, calypso, jazz, and soul genres into intimate musical storytelling experiences.
Trumpeter Etienne Charles, celebrated for his mastery of Afro-Caribbean musical language, will serve as special guest collaborator, enhancing the festival’s core message of cultural unity and artistic exchange. This landmark event follows the massive international success of the band’s latest single, ‘Rum And Coca Cola,’ which achieved record-breaking chart debuts on Apple Music’s Top 100 in over twenty countries and accumulated hundreds of thousands of streams and YouTube views.