THE story of Jamaica, its music, and culture will hit the screens of the popular cable channel, HBO, come August 4, with a repeat on Independence Day, August 6.

The HBO feature, Where the Music is Always Alive, was shot on location in Jamaica during this year’s staging of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival held at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium, January 26 to 28.

(From left) Lorii Del Vecio, director of Affiliate Sales at HBO; Michele English, president and chief operating officer of Columbus Communications, Flow’s parent company; and Dr Wykeham McNeill, Minister of Tourism and Entertainment speak with Walter Elmore, chairman of Art of Music Productions, organisers of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, at last Wednesday’s private screening of the HBO special on Jamaican music at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in St Andrew on Wednesday. (Photo: Jermaine Barnaby) Top left: Marcia Griffiths, right: Shaggy

The feature was shown at a private screening at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in St Andrew and was hosted by HBO and local cable company Flow last Wednesday.

The half-an-hour programme features stunning snapshots of the island’s natural beauty forming the backdrop of a history of the development of Jamaican music.

Thrown in are ‘feel-good’ comments about Jamaica’s hospitality from visitors

to the island, including Canadian songstress Celine Dion, who was in Jamaica as the headliner for this year’s festival.

A slew of Jamaican artists make their mark on the TV special including Shaggy, Marcia Griffiths, Ky-Mani Marley, Tessanne Chin, Tami Chynn, Christopher Martin and Mykal Rose.

Lorii Del Vecio, director of Affiliate Sales at HBO, told the gathering that this marks the second time the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival is being showcased on HBO and it serves to bring the vibrant Jamaican culture to Latin America and the Caribbean with a combined potential viewing audience of

30 million.

This was underscored by Michele English, president and chief operating officer of Columbus Communications, Flow’s parent company.

“Our partnership with HBO for the second year in a row demonstrates a continued commitment to support, share, and celebrate local culture with the rest of the world,” she said.