A delightful jazz encounter A gentle sea breeze caressed the faces of jazz aficionados, who sat on the lush green lawn of 13 Norbrook Road, St. Andrew, awaiting the staging of the inaugural 'Eclectic Evening of Jazz and Art' last Sunday afternoon. The ambience was boosted by the fauna and flora of the gardens tall tropical plants and trees formed a canopy and backdrop for the elegantly laid-out setting. "What a concert that was", said one patron, while another declared "I have never had the opportunity of soaking into so much good music for a long time." The evening was an evening chock-full of traditional and contemporary jazz accompanied by soulful nostalgic singing. The presentations were of a high standard, characterised by good showmanship and professionalism. The audience was fed with brilliant jazz diets of the contemporary, avant-garde and traditional forms. Most of the musicians demonstrated a desire toward refinement, a type of delicacy coupled with the most sophisticated type of playing. During their extended stint on stage, cool jazz, blues (lyrical styles of the Miles Davis era) and a type of revolutionary jazz were performed. In the various expositions, they engaged a great deal of free improvisations and instrumentation, which became more elastic. A number of them display a great sense of poetry. Very popular with the crowd was the Soul Case band featuring Gordon Scott, vocals; Richard "Sven" Patterson, keyboard; Seretse Small, guitar; Larry Silvera, guitar; Junior "Bird" Baile, drums (Congo) and Richie Cunningham. With the audience settled and well primed, the group turned up the pressure with exceptional experimental and improvisational jazz; interspersing cleverly composed lyrics, although at times, tonal qualities were suspect, with mixed instrumentation and unexpected ostinato rhythms, which were carefully contrived. Pat Gooden, a musician of many years, displayed her unmistakable dynamic blend of passionate vocals synchronising with frenzied high-energy, guitar work by Seretse Small. She enlivened things and set the stage for the musical feast which followed when she brilliantly performed. Summertime from Porgy and Bess, I Enjoy Being A Girl from The Flower Drum Song and Quando, Quando by Tony Renis. She was backed ably by the Seretse Small aggregation. Infectious rhythms The pick of the night was the piano artistry of Dennis Rushton. The chemistry between himself and guitarist Seretse Small was fantastic and they were ably assisted by Dale Brown on bass, Richard Cunningham on congas and Junior Baile on drums. His artistry boosted his ability to ignite his audience with infectious rhythms and stylings. Dwight Richard, quite a consummate performer thrilled the audience with his performance gimmicks and his soulful rendition of Amazing Grace to the tune Danny Boy. With unique body language, soulful songs and a warm emotional singing style, Fahrenheit thrilled his fans. Trumpet solos tend to exercise a greater rhythmic and dynamic freedom than other instruments and, Mickey Hanson, well aware of this used this skilfully to titillate his audience. His speech-like intonation, crescendos and climbing phrases were astounding, not to mention his explosive occasional attacks, followed by dwindling tone and descending melodic curves. Guest artiste and multi-instrumentalist Byard Luncaster, and the Jamerican All Stars, including Junior Bird Baile, drums; Conroy Cooper, keyboard; Seretse Small, guitar; Alex Martin Blaken, keyboard and Richard Cunningham, percussion were fantastic. Byard charmed the audience with his extraordinary musical talent and technique. His skill coupled with his scholarship, virtuosity and desire to please his audience earned him loud and prolonged applause. Andi Jefferson, who appeared with him, also thrilled the audience with his medley of Caribbean Rhythms and songs. Christine Fisher was fantastic in her presentation. The jam session which closed the show was a fusion of instrumentations and voices that was a very fitting way of bringing the curtain down. Justin Whyte
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