The 4th Annual All That Jazz Festival in Eleuthera, Bahamas lit by FLDA
Fund-Raising Jazz Festival Benefits Eleuthera’s Haynes Library
New York, NY – The 4th Annual All That Jazz Festival on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas, is an annual fund-raiser for the local Haynes Library. Supporting creative thinking and problem solving through its many programs, the Haynes Library values its responsibility to the wider community and holds a special place in the life of the island. Just as the library works to continually raise the bar of education and technology access, after three years of simple lighting, this year’s festival looked to increase the lighting production values for its Saturday night jazz sessions at the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve, which is located in the settlement of Governor's Harbour.
Ferri Lighting Design and Associates (FLDA) brought in lighting equipment from off-island to realize LD Bruce Ferri’s design in the Preserve’s outdoor pavilion. “We had a blast doing this show,” said Ferri. “You know, it’s a small island in the Bahamas, which means there are a lot of things that you just can’t run to the hardware store and pickup. You really have to think ahead about what you need when you prep and either bring it with you or ship it in, literally via ship, with the rental package. We worked with Spectrum Light & Sound in Nassau, which being 60 miles away is an 8-hour ferry ride, to provide a rental package of LED PARs and moving lights,” says Ferri.
However the shop’s slate of projects at the time meant they could not supply the cable package, notes Ferri. “My Production Manager in New York, Leigh Mundy-Fretz, sourced us the cables from PRG Orlando. That order came over via a boat out of Miami to Nassau and then ferried on to us, along with the truss that we bought to leave at the pavilion. It was a real logistical challenge as boat service from Florida is once a week; so if you miss the boat you’re out of luck. If you have to have it, your only other option is hoping that you can fit it on a small plane from one of the small local airlines. As I said, we had to make sure that we ordered or packed everything that we needed. For instance, my colleague at FLDA, LD Matt Gordon brought an ETCnomad Puck and ETC Eos Programming Wing down in his luggage to run the show.” Along with support of Mundy-Fretz from their NY headquarters, the FLDA team onsite included Lighting Tech/Followspot Operator Tim Ruppen; Production Manager Shannon Curran, handling all the logistics on the island, and Production Assistant Adrienne Kapalko.
The pavilion’s botanical surroundings provided a lush backdrop for the evening of music that featured local Bahamian musicians as well as ones from around the world including New York City. “The 30’x30’ open-air pavilion has a concrete slab floor and 2”x12” beams around the perimeter holding up the roof structure,” explains Ferri. “We purchased a 28’ piece of truss that our team mounted diagonally across the beams with custom-fabricated hooks we had made. I am pleased that the truss will stay in the venue to provide a good lighting position for future use.”
FLDA is known for their pioneering use of LED lighting in their extensive portfolio of television lighting projects and they applied this philosophy for the jazz festival by using an all-LED lighting package. The light plot featured a range of Chauvet Professional lighting products describes Gordon. “Our lighting rig included six Rogue R2 LED Spot moving lights on the truss for keylighting as well as two Ovation E-190 LED ellipsoidals, and a number of COLORado 1-Tri IP LED PARs. We also mounted units on scaffolding flanking either side of the stage to side light the bands. We used COLORado Batten 72 LED striplights to light a curved cyc behind the bands as well as COLORdash Accent narrow LED washlights to help light up the jungle plants behind the stage. It all worked out very well and the bands looked great; they sounded great also.”
It was at times challenging working on a small island, but Gordon notes that the local support meant someone always was there to help get things done. “Everything that we needed was available; just not always readily available. The power was a good example of this support. First let me say, it’s not many projects that when you ask ‘where’s the power, I’m ready to plug everything in’ that they tell you the power is a 200-300’ walk into the jungle,” laughs Gordon. “So we trudged through the jungle to use the backup generator for the park’s facilities and there was nowhere to actual plug in the cables. They called in an electrician who said leave it to him and sure enough, the next morning they had wired in a panel with a lot of outlets. It was a testament to all of the people on the island we dealt with; everyone was very eager, determined, and willing do what was needed to make this happen. It was an awesome project.”
Gordon busked the show on an ETC Eos Programming Wing and Ruppen operated a Chauvet Followspot 1200. With no communications equipment, the lighting team had to “feel it and wing it; essentially they had to improvise the lighting, much like jazz music,” Ferri comments. “The show itself was a big hit and it all worked out great; everyone was pleased with the new lighting design, and we’re already starting to plan what to do for next year. We are so thankful for all the local support we received and send a big thank you to everyone who was involved. Sometimes as outsiders in a place like Eleuthera we tend to take and take and ask what more the island can give; we felt like it was time to give back to the community and the island." FLDA donated all their time, expertise, and covered the lighting equipment costs.
The FLDA team further supported the worthwhile cause by making a donation of two Apple iMac computers to The Haynes Library on Eleuthera. “We really believe that the Haynes Library is a great resource and we are more than happy to help them further their reach throughout the local community,” says Curran. “When you understand what they are about and the programs they offer to the children and adults on Eleuthera you want to help support them. The Haynes Library has a great video about their work on Vimeo at: https://vimeo.com/162898510