For immediate release

August 14, 2012

Soul Fusion Artistes Captivate London Audience with Caribbean Rhythms

Amidst the sporting action of the 2012 Olympic Games, the Caribbean stood out for more than just athletics as the world turned all eyes to London.

Eight regional artistes took to the stage to provide a musical explosion of infectious Caribbean lyrics, beats, and sounds as Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) hosted Caribbean Soul Fusion at Grosvenor House on Thursday August 9, 2012.

The first artiste to perform was Haiti’s musical ambassador to the world, BélO. He got crowd going with his set and provided the ideal musical opening to what was sure to be an evening of authentic Caribbean flavour. This performance was followed by that of Guyanese-based reggae singer Romeo ‘Mystic’ Nermal and St. Lucian songstress Claudia Edward. The first of two headlines acts, Arturo Tappin of Barbados, provided smooth rhythms with his sax rendition. This set the tone for Dominica’s Michele Henderson, Xiomara Fortuna from the Dominican Republic and Barbadian soca junkie Dale ‘Mr. Dale’ Rudder. Second headline act, Jamaican reggae singer Christopher Martin performed some of his latest hits to closed out the reception.

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BélO (Haiti), Romeo ‘Mystic’ Nermal (Guyana) and Claudia Edward (St Lucia) during their performances

Caribbean Export believes that the recently concluded Caribbean Soul Fusion provided an ideal opportunity to showcase the region’s unique and diverse culture as a viable and exportable product, with the potential to fully capitalise on the opportunities provided under the EPA and to satisfy the ever growing demand for Caribbean music.

“With this in mind, as Usain Bolt, Felix Sanchez, Kirani James, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Keshorn Walcott captured hearts across the world in Track and Field, we took the opportunity to have similar exploits on stage with some on the region’s top emerging, as well as more established musical talents”, commented Pamela Coke Hamilton, Executive Director. “Even though the success of this venture will be determined over time, the staging will in time attract high level power players in the music industry from across Great Britain much to the delight of the artistes who all provided positive feedback and expressed gratitude to Caribbean Export for the opportunity provided to them” Coke Hamilton concluded.

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Headliners Arturo Tappin (Barbados) and Christopher Martin (Jamaica)

Michele Henderson (Dominica), Xiomara Fortuna (Dominican Republic) and Dale ‘Mr. Dale’ Rudder (Barbados)

Caribbean Soul Fusion provided a fitting end to two successful days of the Caribbean engaging Europe, through the 2nd CARIFORUM-EU Business Forum, and further highlighted that the Caribbean is open for business.

Caribbean Soul Fusion was supported under the European Union’s (EU) 10th European Development Fund (EDF) Regional Private Sector Development Programme (RPSDP), in collaboration with the African Caribbean and Pacific States Business Climate Facility (ACP BizClim), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

Photo credits: Paul Hampartsoumian- End -

Contact information:Mrs. Stephanie BishopAdvisor - Marketing & Public RelationsTelephone: 246-436-0578 Email: sbishop@carib-export.com

This project is financed by the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union nor that of the ACP Secretariat.