WESTERN BUREAU:

One of the joys of the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival is the ambience. Not only has the Cinnamon Hill venue been breathtakingly beautiful, but it has provided rolling greens tailormade for open-air glides to beautiful music but yet with enough room to literally stretch out.

That was until last year.

As executive producer of the event, Walter Elmore, put it at the December launch of the 2007 staging of the festival last year, the venue got a bit crowded, especially on the final two nights, Friday and Saturday. Hence, this year there has been a move down the hill and across the road to the Rose Hall Aqueduct.

With 15 to 18 acres of the 30-acre venue dedicated to parking alone, there is still a minimum of 12 left for the actual venue, which is double the size of the six acres allocated for that purpose 'up the hill'. This will provide enough room for people to drop legs and to stretch legs, or one then the other, all in peace and comfort.

And with a very good view too.

It will not only be a matter of a wide open space, as Elmore has stressed in previous interviews that while the actual aqueduct will be a backdrop to the stage, the fabled mounds and fantastic food court that were integral to Cinnamon Hill will be in place at the new venue. So, it is a matter of more space with a familiar feel, a good combination to enjoy 'The Art of Music'.