The St. Thomas Jazz Weekend just keeps on rolling along. Saturday night's Danilo Perez concert at Reichhold may have been far from a sell out, but it was about as good as it gets for those fortunate enough to attend.
For openers, I am an extreme bigot with regard to the Bass. Give me a big, hollow box every time with got old gut strings that plang when twanged. Electricity is meant for light bulbs and television sets. Popcorn and toast are best over the open fire, and bass fiddles beat electronic guitars every time. Saturday nite a young Puerto Rican named John Benitez made the bass fiddle come alive. He plunked, twanged, and thumped his way into the hearts of the audience; then iced the cake with the bongo. Grand and glorious.
Now that we have dealt with my prejudice, lets talk about Danilo Perez. Obviously Panama has much more than a canal. This young Latin simply would not sit still; literally. He was constantly attempting to get the audience involved in the music. While the concert could best be billed as A contemporary, Perez took us down the path of true jazz with a multitude of rhythms, styles, and tone sets with some explanation as to the method of his madness.
The third member of the trio was a Mexican drummer by the name of Antonio Sanchez. Mr. Sanchez was totally in control throughout the concert with a masterful hand at the drums providing an almost flawless accompaniment to the piano of Perez and the bass of
Benitez. Then the magic happened.
At the end of the concert, some of the audience realized; Hey, this is really good music. The clapping and shouting simply kept going and the musicians responded. In the first encore Sanchez came alive and proved his mettle as a real virtuoso of percussion. The audience loved it and Benetez responded by pushing his limit. Of course Perez came right along and took over the momentum, and we were all in for another set of most excellent interaction. The concert after the concert was well worth a second admission.
Tomorrow night is Sosa/ Santos. They are going to have to be very, very good to keep up with the flow. Then on to the big bash as Megan's Bay with BeachJam ‘99. What a weekend on St. Thomas!

What is a Mario Cononge? Great piano jazz, that's what!
My wife spent a late afternoon with one of her extended students and we were running late. We have been major supporters of the University's Reichhold Theater since its inception when out neighbor installed the Klieg lights and told us the facility was really something special. Arriving at the parking lot half an hour into the performance we were shocked at the lack of cars. The management, however, had overcome the problems of the evening and surrounded the ensemble of performers with chairs on the stage bringing the few spectators into the closest possible harmony.
Picking our way to a couple of seats in the dark, we were aware of pleasant sounds coming from what appeared to be a cast off from the streets of Marseilles banging away at the drums, the twin brother of my Cairo taxi driver plunking a four string bass and a nappy headed piano player running his fingers around the keys of the Universitys grand piano. As we found our seats, the drummer began a solo set which sounded like certain death for all five of his skins B not to mention serious crumpling of his cymbals.
It soon became apparent this Marseilles street urchin was simply not going to give up and was determined to render damage to his instruments. The word VERVE comes to mind. The next number was a relatively tame rendition of a cutesy lovey dovey exchange with a few lyrics and more piano notes, bass strumming and drum rolls.
Finally, the trio was warmed up. The next number started our as a rather nice reggae; then became a rip roaring, full throttle jazz rendition. I mean the man simply ripped the University's staid grand apart and rung out every inch of it. Needless to say, we were treated to many more examples of superb drumming and technically amazing piano segments.
There is no question. Mr. Mario Canonge is into his music. He sits back on his piano stool and massages the keyboard like it is as extension of his own. Thierry Fanfant, my Egyptian taxi driver's twin, played his four string bass guitar like it was a lead instrument. Finally, Mr. Jean- Philippe Fanfan tried his best to beat his five drums, three cymbals, block and bell into submission. The final word from the audience was ENCORE!
Paul Oscher was sold out at Tillet's Wednesday and on St. John Thursday. Friday night he was back at Tillet's. Saturday night at the Reichhold is the Daniel Perez Trio followed by Sosa/ Santos Duo Sunday. Monday, of course, is BeachJam ‘99 at Magen's Bay featuring Tito Puente.
Gadzooks! What a weekend! After this lead in, you couldn't pay me to miss the BeachJam.

Volunteers and production people gathered at Magens Bay on Saturday and Sunday to put finishing touches on "BeachJam '99."
According to promoters, "A day at the beach will never be the same" and if the building, pruning and primping that's been going on all week at Magens Bay is any indication, it's already not the same.
Every day more grass and bush have been trimmed and hauled away from St. Thomas's favorite beach spot and park in preparation for this ambitious entertainment event all day Monday, the Martin Luther King holiday.
Beachjam '99 will benefit the Magens Bay coconut grove and arboretum. And by the looks of what's taking place there now, it already is.
The lineup of local and international talent includes zouk band Tabou Combo, zydeco/blues favorite Al Rapone & the Zydeco Express and local favorites Imagination Brass, UVI Jazz Ensemble and the All Stars Steelband. HBO comediennes Barbara Carlyle and DK will also perform.
Latin legend Tito Puente is the headliner for the event.
Editor's note: For interview with Tito Puente conducted by St. Thomas Source contributor Torre Newman, go to Showcase under Arts/Entertainment.

Hundreds of young people are expected to gather Monday morning at Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral to celebrate the life, accomplishments and message of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The interfaith program begins at 8 a.m. and will be followed by a parade down Main Street to Emancipation Garden led by Gov. Charles W. Turnbull.
The celebration at Emancipation Garden, which begins at 10 a.m., will include remarks from the governor and musical tributes by the choirs of Charlotte Amalie High School, Ivanna Eudora Kean High School and Kirwan Terrace Elementary School.
Other participants include "God's Chosen Vessels," a pantomime group from the Faith Christian Fellowship Church, Kareem
Turnbull, a seventh-grader at Zion Assembly School, and various civic and Greek organizations.
The theme of this year's celebration is "Everybody Can Be Great, Because
Anybody Can Serve."
The ceremony was organized by the Governor's Office and the Tourism Department's special events division.

With today's advanced information super highways, accessing up-to-the-minute material is often just a matter of "surfing the Net." But for many Virgin Islanders, the challenge is first to get on-line.
The problem, say two of the island’s three Internet service providers: They need more lines from the V.I. Telephone Corp.
Most customers access the Internet by signing up with an Internet service provider, known as an ISP, which uses phone lines to dial into the Net. In St. Thomas this has come to mean one busy signal after another, a recipe for frustration.
"What I find is that during the day or the evening hours — forget it," said Dr. Craig Friedenberg. He has two dial-up accounts, one with VIAccess and another with AT&T, and says his recent experience has been the same with both.
How does he cope with the constant busy signals?
"I don't like to get frustrated so if that is when it's clogged-up, then I'll go on later," he said.
But things weren't always this bad, Friedenberg said, adding the situation has deteriorated since Hurricane Georges.
Elise Leval also tries to get on-line at hours when she feels there is less traffic.
"What I do is try during the night because I don't have the patience to continue trying," the Cobex user said. Monique Purguy has found a way to entertain herself while she tries to get connected: " I play Solitaire on the computer because you get a busy signal and hear that man from Vitelco saying, 'The line is busy, please hang up'," she mimicked.
Purguy, also a Cobex customer, said it takes her from 20 to 30 minutes to get connected.
In order to allow customers to access the Internet, local ISPs must first dial a Vitelco number, which they then route to an 800 number. National ISPs, such as America On Line, connect users directly but that means incurring a long-distance charge for the connection, said Katrina White-Comissiong, manager of public relations at Vitelco.
This routing of high volumes of traffic through Vitelco’s 800-number circuits is what caused the recent breakdowns in service, she said.
But how much of the problem lies with the local ISPs and how much with the V.I. Telephone Corp.?
Gordon Ackley, owner and president of Ackley Communications and VIAccess, said the problem can be explained quite simply: " a lack of capacity on Vitelco’s part."
VIAccess once prided itself on the idea that users would never get a "busy" and even incorporated the boast in its logo, Ackley said. But since September, that has no longer been possible.
"At that level of quality service we never returned a busy signal to a customer," Ackley said. "That was until September, when Vitelco did not meet our demands."
Specifically, VIAccess ordered more than 700 T-1 circuits for 800 numbers, which would mean more lines for users, from Vitelco between September and October, Ackley said. They still haven’t been delivered.
VIAccess previously had a ratio of 10 to 12 users per dial-up line. Now that number has increased to 15, he said.
"We have the hardware. As soon as Vitelco installs the circuits we will be back to our 'no busies,' " he said.
Peter de Blanc of Caribbean On-line Business Exchange International, or COBEX, echoed Ackley's sentiments.
"Our only goal is to get more lines from Vitelco," de Blanc said, adding that this will only be possible once Vitelco installs new switches. Until then, several users must share lines and "unless they have a business connection, they are out of luck until someone gets off."
The dial-up situation is such because of economic reasons, de Blanc explained. It is simply not feasible for an ISP to maintain an individual local line from Vitelco for each customer and maintain low dial-up access rates, he said.
"Mostly what the reason is, is that they [customers] are not paying enough," de Blanc said.
Vitelco is in the midst of a $15 million modernization project, part of which will mean the installation of new switches by the end of March on St. Thomas, White-Comissiong said. She could not give a date for the installation of the St. Croix switch.
The new switches will replace one that has been in use since 1981.
"It has reached its limitations," White-Comissiong said. "It cannot meet the telecommunication needs of the Virgin Islands. Our lifestyles have changed. Installation of the new switches will provide us with more capacity."
Adding to the equipment problems is increased interest in the Internet. The number of people who want to go on-line is mushrooming.
Shelley de Chabert, strategic programming and public affairs director of AT&T of the Virgin Islands, said, "Normally when people complain about trying to get on-line, it is due to congestion."
But several factors contribute to congestion on the 800 number lines, she said.
For example, on certain days the number of visitors and crew members making long-distance calls and merchants trying to get credit card authorizations add to the congestion.
Although AT&T is not waiting on any lines from Vitelco, it is in the midst of an internal upgrade, after which a need for more Vitelco lines will be determined, de Chabert said.
Measures were taken in December to alleviate the problem somewhat.
Through a collaborative effort involving the Puerto Rico Telephone Co., Vitelco and AT&T, which served as the interstate carrier providing the needed facilities, the number of T-1 circuits was increased, but as the current situation indicates, more are needed.
Dial-up is one of the many ways to access the Internet through ISPs. There are more time-efficient ways, such as private connections, business lines and wireless service, and although costs vary, they are all higher than dial-up rates.

Whenever a business starts up there is always a parallel path of forward movement.
You want to be "open for business" and generating revenue as soon as possible, but not before you are fully prepared.
You want to have enough of a staff to support the business, but you also need to have money to pay them.
And you want people to know about your business, but you want to be at your very best when greeting the public.
So it is with St. Thomas Source. We have labored down that parallel path for two months trying to coordinate our timing with the site developers and local events, while doing the massive amount of work required to start a "newspaper" — with one staff person and a handful of gracious, talented and energetic volunteers.
The site is up, and is getting a lot of attention. It is a work in progress and will continue to be so. It is the blessing and the curse of this new world of the Internet to be constantly in a state of flux.
Every day will bring more changes and more information to you, our readers.
We welcome your input and your contributions. We are grateful to our advertisers who believe in this project. And we are grateful to the people of St. Thomas and the world who are already giving us input and encouragement.
Please e-mail your comments or letters to source@viaccess.net. The open forum section of the St. Thomas Source is set aside for your commentary.
This is truly a grass-roots venture. We welcome your communications.

Tito Puente is making his third appearance on St. Thomas. When I spoke to him recently at his home in New York, he told me he and his 13 member band are very much looking forward to this particular engagement on beautiful Magens Bay. As someone who participates in music and art education through his performances and speaking appearances around the world, this event is perfect for him.
Mr. Puente has been performing since he was 6 years old and shows no sign of slowing down. His 117th album, “Dance Mania Live ‘99” is up for a Grammy Award, his 10th nomination. “I’m 75 and still going. I try to be a role model for the youth worldwide.” he told me. When I suggested that he could be the George Burns of Latin music he responded “ Well, I don’t make people laugh. But then again, he didn’t play the timbales.”
Tito is best know for bringing the percussion section to the front of the stage because of his exciting musical style on the timbales. Before then,all drums, congas, bongos were at the back. According to him “All the bands in the old days had the pretty boy singers up front. I decided to put myself up there and it caught on. Now, when I perform at universities,fairs and jazz festivals, the young crowd gets right into it. They’re very hip to my music today.”
Between 1945 and 1948, Tito completed his formal musical education. His career took off with his 1949 recording of “Abaniquito”. In 1957, because of his major contributions to this art, he was the only Puerto Rican invited by the Cuban government to participate in the 50th Anniversary of Cuban Music. “My music has a lot of Cuban influences and I have assisted with writing about music heritage for many books.”
Ten years later, in 1967, Tito performed at the New York Metropolitan Opera. This was followed by his first television work, “The World of Tito Puente”, and serving as Grand Marshall of the Puerto Rican Day Parade. Then in 1977 he performed with Carlos Santana. The possibility of him and Santana performing together in the future is not out of the question.
When asked about this he replied,” We haven’t been booked together since 1977. Our schedules conflict too much. This doesn’t stop us from jamming with each other when the opportunity presents itself. Carlos and I are good friends and we stay in touch. Maybe for the year 2000 we can pull something together.”
During the 1980’s he created the Tito Puente Scholarship Foundation to benefit talented children. His work and involvement in the foundation is ongoing. This makes him the perfect performer for CEAP’s kickoff event.
Tito has traveled the world over sharing his unique gifts of performing and teaching. He is the recipient of numerous honorary doctorate degrees and has been inducted into the National Congressional Record. He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992 at the 2nd Annual Caribbean Music Awards, and in 1993 received the Smithsonian Medal of Honor for his dedication to his art.
I asked if he was to be put in the Guinness Book of Records, what would it be for. His answer, “ I want to be the leader of the first Latin American band on the moon”. I think he could make it. I found him to be a charming,kind and humorous individual. To me, Tito Puente is a legend in his own time. Something a rare few could qualify for. In the language of his parents “Una legenda en Vida.”
I strongly suggest you don’t miss this opportunity to see him perform for the benefit of our community and our youth. This really will be a different day at the beach because of Tito.

Antilles School will hold its 15th annual dinner auction, entitled "Caribbean Pirates." More details will follow.

The Virgin Islands Police Department is still accepting weapons, acting Police Commission Franz Christian has announced.
if you have a weapon and feel for any reason that you no longer want or need it, the police are urging and encouraging you to turn it in.
It is not necessary to wait for another amnesty.
If you intend to keep your weapon, please take every precaution in safeguarding it, Christian said.
Every weapon taken off the streets is another life saved, he said, adding, "Remember, the life you save may be your own."

Beginning Wednesday, Jan. 20, clinic services for Maternal and Child Health and Children with special health-care needs will be held at the Roy L. Schneider Hospital-Community Health clinic on the second floor.
Patients with scheduled appointments or needing assistance are asked to call 776-3580 for further information.