BARBADOS:
A MUSICAL crescendo hit Barbados Sunday night as all the musical energies built up over the week of jazzin' in the land of flying fish was released. The final concert of the 8th annual Barbados Jazz Festival featured Chaka Khan and Stanley Jordan.
They brought an appropriate close to the event.
The ageless pop diva, Chaka Khan, tore down the borders and injected life into the largely reticent crowd. She had Bajans and tourists dancing like they were hit by the 1970s' disco fever.
With a flaming hot band comprised of uninhibited musicians, Chaka Khan was about high volume, high energy and class. The Sir Garfield Sobers gymnasium became a kaleidoscope of colour, significant of the radiant personality this timeless wonder.
She took her audience Through The Fire and this brought some heat to the mature audience which had been earlier sedated by a stellar performance from young guitarist Stanley Jordan. By the time Chaka Khan performed I Am Every Woman, the party was truly on.
Chaka showed her acclaimed vocal versatility, adding jazzy sounds to some of her popular numbers. She was scatting like a New Orleans bar singer and moving like a burgeoning pop singer trying to make an impression.
Her band members revelled in the atmosphere, each playing stirring solos during an interlude which allowed Chaka Khan to refresh herself. An incredible vocal trio blended their voices to achieve an uncanny similarity to Khan's high-pitched, piercing vocals. They took turns introducing their individual talents to the audience.
Chaka Khan was called for an encore, during which she sang a contemporised version of Ain't Nobody Loves Me Better.
Earlier, Stanley Jordan did the improbable on the guitar. Certainly one of the most talented exponents in the world today, he sounded like he was playing three instruments at once. He was incredible to the point where patrons speculated that he had background music coming from behind the curtains.
He later explained that the broadness of his sound was due to a new piano technique he had developed. Jordan seemed a bit reserved, but he allowed his instrument to represent him.
He has perfected the art of one-hand playing showing equal skill with either hand. He closed a truly artistic and electric performance with Stairway To Heaven, the first song he learned to play over two decades ago. Jordan was given a standing ovation.
That event folded the curtains on the week-long Barbados Jazz festival.
Andrew Clunis
Report courtesy of BWIA West Indies Airways
