Indy Jazz Spends NYE with our Troops by Mina Keohane, indianapolismusic.net

There are plenty of options here in town if you want a little jazz in your New Year's celebration and they'll be listed below. One Indy band, however, will be spending their New Year's Eve a little differently this year. Local Smooth Jazz/ R&B band Protocol will be performing for our troops on the only American base on Communist soil,  Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They had performed there once before in October for  the troops at Guantanamo Bay, but also at Camp Delta (where the detainees are held.)

"The commander of the base, he and his wife were guests at her cousin's wedding, which we were playing. He came up to us and asked if we were willing to come to Cuba. We said sure, but sometimes people say things and you don't know how serious they are. We sent a packet and got a call in the first part of September to come and perform in October. That was alot of fun," said Roderick Johnson, keyboardist for Protocol. 

As for seeing much of Cuba, Roderick continued "We did not really leave the base. We fished in the bay, but the base is so big there's really no need to leave. We knew ahead of time we would not be leaving American control." They enjoyed their time so much, they jumped at the offer to come back for New Year's Eve. "One of my fondest memories was seeing the people from other armed forces, not just Navy, all having a good time. There was a General from the army who could really cut the rug. It was just an all-around good experience. This is obviously a great opportunity for us. We're really very excited to be going back." Protocol is a 6-piece group that formed in 1999. They play Smooth Jazz and R&B. Protocol is Georgette Fraction-vocals, Randell Connor-drums, Lester Johnson, bass, Roderick Johnson-keys, Anthony Sherard-sax, and Bruce Valance-guitar. You can hear them perform sometimes at the Avalon and the Artsgarden.