WISYNCO Group Ltd. has prided itself on showcasing young talent through its sponsorship of the Ocean Spray stage at the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival. This year, Rootz Underground will perform for the fourth time cementing their relationship with the brand and the Ocean Spray stage audience.

photo by claudine housen - The Rootz Underground band, which will be performing on the Ocean Spray side stage, practising for Thursday night's staging of the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival.

Rootz Underground is a great example of a Jamaican band that has used the stage to its full potential. The band, comprised of Stephen Newland (lead vocals), Jeffrey Moss-Solomon (vocals, rhythm guitar), Leon Campbell (drums), Paul 'Scoobie' Smith (keyboards), Charles Lazarus (lead guitar), John Campbell (percussion) and Colin 'Babylon Headache' Young (bass), has been a staple of the stage over the last three years. This year, the band will return to close the stage on Friday night and host the after-party.

Although the band has been around since 2000, Jeffery says there has been a consistent buzz in the three years since Rootz Underground made its debut on what is now the Ocean Spray stage.

We like the vibe

"We like the vibe at the Ocean Spray stage - it's a real music lovers crowd; sometimes we get up to a thousand people watching our performance," Jeffrey said. "Performing on this stage not only excites our audience - it gets into their minds that we are a quality band. It's an honour to play there."

WISYNCO, through its brands Ocean Spray Coca-Cola, Ciclon, Monster, Wata, Bigga, and Sprite, is the exclusive non-alcohol sponsor of the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival.