WESTERN BUREAU:

Nathaniel Stewart/Freelance Photographer - Freddie McGregor

It is not quite the showdown at the OK Corral but more a case of country and western meeting reggae joining R&B at the Aqueduct on Friday, the second big day of the 2007 Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival.

Kenny Rogers will come with the six guns of The Gambler, Coward of the County, Lucille and countless other hits blazing. Shaggy the bombastic ladies man and, lately, a counter of the Church Heathen,

Wayne Wonder who is holding nothing back, Freddie McGregor with his big ship and the quintessential crooner Sanchez will be representing Jamaican music with a near uninterrupted tribute to 'The Art of Reggae'.

It will not be strictly the wild and not so Wild West meeting the land of wood, water and baseline, as Christopher Cross will be Sailing into the fray with unforgettable R&B. With five Grammys in 1981, based on the success of Sailing, Ride Like the Wind, Never Be the Same and Say You'll Be Mine, Cross followed up his debut album in 1983 with Another Page.

interesting name

NEWA is named from the first initials of its members, where there are deep Caribbean roots. Nicholas Branckner majored in philosophy at the University of the West Indies and toured extensively with Eddy Grant, also working with Shabba Ranks, Maxi Priest, Square One and Krosfyah, among others. The 'E' is for Eddie Bullen and the 'W' for Wilson Laurencin, who was born in England to West Indian parents and moved to Canada when he was 11.

And the 'A' is no stranger, as Barbadian saxophonist Arturo Tappin is a long-time favourite, with St. Kittitian Bruce Skerritt rounding out the band. NEWA is not the only band on the night, as the Robert Cray Band will be in the house on Friday - or, rather, at the Aqueduct.