CELEBRATE JAMAICA'S 48TH INDEPENDENCE AT "TASTE JAMAICA"

Washington, DC (July 19, 2010) - On Sunday, August 15, JNA, ILR and JAM will bring a free public event to the area in celebration of Jamaica’s 48th Independence. The event is labeled Taste JAMAICA and will have a star-studded cast of international reggae performers with Ky-mani Marley, son of the iconic and legendary Bob Marley headlining. Ky-Mani will also host a book signing session of his current publication “Dear Dad.” Other performers include Benjy Myaz, Spiritual, Image Band, the Image Band, Enside Out, Lenny Kurlou, DJ Fabulous and other entertainers. The first of its kind – the festival will also be a day highlighting Jamaica’s rich culture and heritage and will have vendors, food, crafts, and all things Jamaican.

JNA, a 40 year old non-profit organization, is committed to unify, foster and promote the welfare of all Jamaicans and persons of Jamaican heritage in the Washington Metropolitan Area. ILR Music Foundation, a non-profit organization, is a Maryland based non-profit organization, with a mission to enrich lives through music education and music entertainment. JAM is a cornerstone non-profit organization serving and supporting the Jamaican culture, people and business in the Baltimore, Maryland area. All three organizations and many individuals, who are working tirelessly to bring the festival alive, have been instrumental in keeping the Jamaican culture alive in the Washington DC Metropolitan area.

According to Moreen Wallace, former president of JNA and founder of ILR “On hearing that the popular ‘Sunday Market’ will not be held this year, a group of us decided to be proactive and stage Taste JAMAICA in celebration of our 48th independence.” The collaborative efforts of the three organizations have been cemented by US based Reggae Operation WW, a music based organization with a focus to promote and support of the Jamaican culture. Other sponsors of the event include Peppy Entertainment & Promotions and the Monarchymm Group.

Taste JAMAICA will take place on Sunday, August 15 from noon until 8pm and will be held at Zanzibar on the Waterfront, located at 700 Water Street, in SW, DC. For more information, please see flier below or visit www.ilovereggaedc.com.


Rosie "Peppy" Parke
Creative Director
Peppy Entertainment & Promotions

Rosie Peppy Parke | Create Your Badge


10 QUESTIONS FOR TESSANNE CHIN

1. Are you related to Tami Chynn?

Yes, Tami is My big sis only by a year and 3 months though

2. Which artist would you love to collaborate with and why?

Damian Marley. I love how he pays a great amount of attention to his lyrical content and his flow is sick

3. If you were not a singer, what would you be doing?

Something to do with singing or music possibly even something to do with cooking and children, LOL. One of my dreams is also to be a wife and mother

4. Have you ever been to China? If so, when and for how long?

Yes I went to China for the 2008 Beijing Olympics to sing for our Jamaican athletes at the closing party that was thrown for them by Puma. It was an amazing experience, not only did I get to sing and be there at such a historic time but I got to see a part of my heritage I never really knew much about. Being of Jamaican Chinese descent, it meant a lot to me and I would love to go there again

5. When can we expect an album from you?

This summer!!! Putting the finishing touches on it now as we speak, or should I say type, LOL.

6. How do you unwind?

I unwind with my loved ones. I’m a sucker for a good movie or book and anything to do with cooking, eating or painting pictures and yes, the obvious …listening to music.

7. Do you write your own songs? If yes, what is your inspiration and which song is her favorite and why?

I do write my own songs and it’s really like therapy for me. I draw a lot of inspiration from everyday life experiences - my life or what I see happening in the lives around me. I live in a country that provides endless inspiration and I live in a world where something will always be happening to cause a certain emotion or feeling to come out in me whether it be happy, sad, good, bad, about love or the lack of it. I guess it’s a way to have my own little say sometimes too about what I see happening around me. As far as having a favorite song? I don’t because all my songs are pretty much like my babies and you cannot pick a favorite child, at least I couldn’t, so they all have aspects to them that are special to me.

8. Why is your m0ther your manager? Did you ever have another manager or do you just like to keep it in the family?

It’s actually quite by default but to be honest who better to have yah back than yah famil? Most of all, yah Mum!!! Even though it is hard sometimes to differentiate between her being my Mamma and Mamager LOL, but we don’t get it twisted. It is what it is for now and we look forward to building a team of managers and and an empire together

9. How do you feell about the current state of Dancehall in Jamaica and how does it affect the type of music you out?

Well that’s a tricky question…I think we are at a place right now that is very critical and I think there are very few people out there that are helping the evolution of music but also a lot of people just doing what will buss now or jumping on a bandwagon of some sort. There are very few songs I hear now that will stand the test of time but that’s just my opinion. Still at the end of the day, it’s all music -- yah like some, yah don’t like some but the aim with my music has always and will always be to make music that will be around even when I’m gone and music that gets into yah soul.. into yah bones. Music that moves you, not just physically but emotionally and spiritually. That’s the type of music I’m interested in making. But variety is the spice of life, yah gotta have a little of everything I suppose or we’d all be bored

10. Where do you see yourself in years?

I see myself as a successful human being. First, a successful confident woman… I want to have a couple albums under my belt, to have my music touch the four corners of the earth and to be married about to start a family with my husband. And above all still dreaming new dreams to eventually conquer. I wanna make sure I never stop being a dreamer and never stop believing in the power of NOW. Living my dreams now.

Visit www.tessanne.com for more!