Igmar at the St. Lucia Jazz Festival

Somewhere in the family DNA lies the talent for things musical.  While I did not demonstrate overwhelming proof of it during those few years I played the clarinet in middle school, my younger brother Igmar has definitely gone much further ever since he discovered his love for the trumpet.  His music has taken him all over the country and world, including destinations as exciting and far away as Shanghai and Paris.  This weekend he will be performing with a fellow Berklee College of Music alum, Esperanza Spalding, at the St. Lucia Jazz Festival.

Igmar Thomas: trumpetist, bandleader, composer, and baby brother.

That’s right. “Iggy,” as his friends call him, will be visiting the home of our great-grandparents Edelanive Mondesi and Joseph Louis Colomb!  Although Igmar will apparently be the first in the family to set foot on one of our ancestral islands time will not permit him to visit Soufriere or seek out our long-lost relatives as the jazz festival venues are on the opposite end of the island.

Let us hope this will be the first of many visits our family will make to the island.  For now I’ll just stew in my jealousy over Igmar enjoying an all expenses paid trip to St. Lucia on which he gets (paid!!) to do what he loves.  Who wouldn’t be envious?  Truth be told, I guess I’m a little proud too.