By Carolyn E. Mayo
Contributing Writer

The Performing Arts Foundation of Powhatan, Inc. presents their third annual Jazz ‘n July on July 26. The event will begin with a silent auction at 5 p.m., followed by music from 6 to 8 p.m. at Fine Creek Vineyards located at 2630 Huguenot Trail. This year’s featured performers are local Richmond artists, Ban Caribe. Tickets for the event are $15 per person.

If you have not already had the pleasure of hearing Ban Caribe perform, you are in for a treat. The group’s sound blends together the exotic sounds of Latin, Caribbean and soulful Rhythm and Blues.

The band’s music, based on the Afro-Clave, is held together with pulsating percussion. Ban Caribe’s musical compositions and arrangements are spiritually inspired by the rhythmic beats and chants of indigenous African music.

The group’s founder, master percussionist and singer Kevin Davis wins enthusiastic fans wherever he performs. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Davis began his career with a drum and bugle corps in New York City.

In his youth, Davis was influenced by the popular music of Sam Cooke, Tito Puente, and Eddie Palmeri among others. After studying abroad in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica, he relocated to Virginia to complete his formal education at Virginia State University.

While in Virginia, he quickly fell into the music scene, touring with artists throughout the Virginia, Washington D.C., and Baltimore areas.

Davis’ love for Caribbean music eventually led to the creation of the Ban Caribe ensemble, formed in 1984. As you close your eyes and listen, you will get lost in the sounds and rhythms of Ban Caribe, and be transported to far away exotic places.

Contributing to the mood of the music is this year’s setting for Jazz ‘n July, Fine Creek Vineyards. Vineyard owners and event hosts David and Mimi Ziletti and their sons, Austin, Kiernan and Henry, have generously provided the Performing Arts Foundation use of their property.

The unique setting of jazz in a vineyard is further enhanced by the knowledge that the Zilleti’s home, aptly named Buena Vista, has historical significance.

Buena Vista was originally built in the early 19th century by Ms. Ziletti’s maternal ancestors, the Gilliam family. Buena Vista is most famous for being the site of Robert E. Lee’s last camp after his surrender at Appomattox in April 1865. The next morning, before leaving for Richmond, Lee had breakfast with the Gilliams and sat Ms. Ziletti’s great-great-grandmother on his knee. While the original home burned during the early 20th century, the present day home was built over the original cellar and foundation.

After a total restoration and expansion in 1999, the Zilettis moved into the present home. Many of the outbuildings you see around the home were constructed by the various owners over the years from the mid-1800s to the present. In 2004, Mr. Zilletti dismantled and moved Greenfield, the early 19th century story and a half building, from Sussex County. It is now in the side yard and is used as a farm office.

From the first vineyard plantings in 2003, all of the grapes grown at Fine Creek are French viniferous varietals beginning with Merlot and Cabernet Franc and continuing with the 2008 plantings of Petit Manseng. The first Fine Creek harvest took place in 2005, with grapes being grown exclusively for James River Cellars.

Zilletti proudly claims that James River’s 2006 Merlot is made of 100 percent Fine Creek Vineyards fruit.

For more information and tickets for Jazz ‘n July, contact The Performing Arts Foundation of Powhatan, Inc. at (804) 598-5553 or (804) 598-6969 or visit their website at www.artsofpowhatan.org.

Tickets are $15 per person.

There will be food and drink for purchase. No coolers or pets are permitted and the evening is cash or check only.

This event is sponsored in part by Central Virginia Bank, Balzer & Associates and Jord Construction.