Tobago tunes up for Beachfront Jazz 2026

To­ba­go’s pre­mier jazz ex­pe­ri­ence is back with re­newed en­er­gy and am­bi­tion. Beach­front Jazz 2026, host­ed by Black Two Sug­ars, con­tin­ues the is­land’s rich tra­di­tion of jazz, kick­ing off to­day at the Mag­dale­na Grand Beach & Golf Re­sort as part of the To­ba­go Jazz, Mu­sic and Golf Week­end.

Build­ing on the suc­cess of Beach­front Jazz 2025—hailed as “a cul­tur­al move­ment” and “a bea­con of world-class mu­si­cal ex­cel­lence in the Caribbean”—this year’s edi­tion promis­es an un­for­get­table cel­e­bra­tion of Caribbean jazz, world-class per­for­mances and the elec­tric at­mos­phere that on­ly To­ba­go can de­liv­er.

The fes­tiv­i­ties be­gin with Swing­ing on the Greens, an el­e­gant pre­lude to the main event, fol­lowed by Jam on the Groove – Old Skool Par­ty, of­fer­ing guests a vi­brant blend of mu­si­cal nos­tal­gia and is­land charm. To­mor­row, the sig­na­ture event, Beach­front Jazz, comes alive with a stel­lar line­up of per­form­ers set against To­ba­go’s breath­tak­ing coast­line.

Fea­tured per­form­ers for Beach­front Jazz 2026 in­clude:

Jazmine Ghent – An award-win­ning sax­o­phon­ist, Dr Jazmine Ghent blends tra­di­tion­al jazz with smooth and con­tem­po­rary sounds. A pro­fes­sor of mu­sic, she teach­es mu­sic ed­u­ca­tion and mu­sic cog­ni­tion at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Ot­tawa and Car­leton Uni­ver­si­ty. Her per­for­mances are ac­claimed for their emo­tion­al depth and strik­ing im­pro­vi­sa­tion. She is the 2019 re­cip­i­ent of the NAACP Im­age Award for Out­stand­ing Jazz Al­bum, The Sto­ry of Jaz. With sev­en Top 5 Bill­board sin­gles, Ghent’s jazz fu­sion and dy­nam­ic stage pres­ence are ex­pect­ed to cap­ti­vate au­di­ences.

Ter­ri Lyons – The 2026 Di­manche Gras win­ner, Ter­ri Lyons is a com­mand­ing pres­ence in Caribbean mu­sic. Known for her pow­er­house vo­cals, song­writ­ing and act­ing tal­ent, she is wide­ly re­gard­ed as a ca­lyp­so force in the mak­ing. The daugh­ter of sev­en-time So­ca Monarch win­ner Austin “Su­perBlue” Lyons, she has carved out her own path, earn­ing ac­co­lades in­clud­ing the Ca­lyp­so Monarch ti­tle in 2020. She is al­so the reign­ing 2025 Queen of Queens (Re­gion­al Fe­male Ca­lyp­so Monarch), hav­ing se­cured the ti­tle four con­sec­u­tive times. Her per­for­mance promis­es high en­er­gy and crowd en­gage­ment.

Ron Reid – A T&T na­tive based in Boston, Ron Reid is a renowned bassist, pan­nist, com­pos­er and arranger, not­ed for his work in Caribbean folk and jazz. A pro­fes­sor in Con­tem­po­rary Writ­ing and Pro­duc­tion at Berklee Col­lege of Mu­sic, he re­ceived the 2023 Sun­shine Award (New York) for con­tri­bu­tions to Caribbean cul­ture and mu­sic ed­u­ca­tion, and a 2025 CAM­MY Award for ed­u­ca­tion, men­tor­ship and per­for­mance at the Cam­bridge Jazz Fes­ti­val. His ex­pan­sive reper­toire and dis­tinc­tive, emo­tive style are ex­pect­ed to be a high­light.

Llette­sha Sylvester – Known for her soul­ful so­pra­no voice, Sylvester has emerged as one of the Caribbean’s bright­est jazz tal­ents. She has per­formed at the Saint Lu­cia Jazz & Arts Fes­ti­val, Jazz Artists on the Greens and the To­ba­go Jazz Ex­pe­ri­ence, where her style has been de­scribed as blend­ing “el­e­gance with fire and del­i­ca­cy with dar­ing.” A mu­sic ed­u­ca­tor, she holds a Bach­e­lor of Mu­sic in Vo­cal Per­for­mance from Al­corn State Uni­ver­si­ty and an Artist Diplo­ma in Mu­sic.

Theron Shaw – A dis­tin­guished gui­tarist, com­pos­er and arranger, Shaw is recog­nised for seam­less­ly fus­ing jazz with ca­lyp­so, soul and glob­al in­flu­ences. His work is marked by in­tri­cate com­po­si­tions and a deep en­gage­ment with Caribbean and African rhythms. His record­ings in­clude The So­journ, Right Here, Right Now and Gum­bo Caribe. He holds de­grees from Howard Uni­ver­si­ty and the Uni­ver­si­ty of the West In­dies and is al­so an ed­u­ca­tor.

Caryll Warn­er – A vi­o­lin­ist, mu­sic ed­u­ca­tor and choral con­duc­tor, Warn­er brings a dis­tinc­tive blend of clas­si­cal and con­tem­po­rary in­flu­ences. She holds a BFA in Mu­sic from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Trinidad and To­ba­go and an MA in Mu­sic Ed­u­ca­tion from Ball State Uni­ver­si­ty. Her work has earned mul­ti­ple awards from the To­ba­go House of As­sem­bly and the Trinidad and To­ba­go Bi­en­ni­al Mu­sic Fes­ti­val. She is a con­duc­tor with the Mar­i­onettes Chorale and has per­formed with sev­er­al or­ches­tras lo­cal­ly and in­ter­na­tion­al­ly.

Ger­ard Bal­four – A mul­ti­tal­ent­ed pan­nist, arranger, pro­duc­er and so­ca artiste from To­ba­go, Bal­four con­tin­ues to build his rep­u­ta­tion on re­gion­al stages, in­clud­ing a re­cent ap­pear­ance at CAR­IFES­TA XV in Bar­ba­dos. His dy­nam­ic per­for­mances and ver­sa­til­i­ty are ex­pect­ed to en­er­gise the au­di­ence.

With its blend of ex­cep­tion­al tal­ent and vi­brant cul­tur­al ex­pres­sion, Beach­front Jazz 2026 aims to fur­ther el­e­vate To­ba­go’s fes­ti­val land­scape. Whether a jazz en­thu­si­ast or a vis­i­tor seek­ing a pre­mi­um is­land ex­pe­ri­ence, the event of­fers a com­pelling mix of rhythm, re­lax­ation and rev­el­ry.