By Barbara Ellington, Staff Reporter
Bryson had the ladies mesmerised. - Photos by Winston Sill/Staff photographer
AFTER WEEKS of anticipation, Buzz Productions/Nestle's Valentine's Day concert billed An Evening of Love, drew lovers to the Hilton Kingston Hotel like moths to a flame. As has become customary with Buzz Productions, the entertainment package began on time with Tesa Ann Chin performing Al Green's Love and Happiness, Tina Turner's Simply The Best and two other favourites, in the opening act.
Her voice shows promise and if she continues to hone that extended range, we will be hearing great things from her.
By 8:20 p.m., A. J. Brown's segment had begun. Singing How Could I Leave? by one of his idols, the late Dennis Brown, he lit up the ballroom from the left of the audience.
Dressed in red trousers, white shirt and a sparkling silver vest, he was in the mood and colour of love and in his inimitible style, went on to mesmerise the crowd with favourites like I Need You, For You, When You Love and Me and Mrs. Jones, the latter for those in the audience "...with a mate who was not theirs."
The first break came at 8:50 and lasted till Peabo Bryson began his set at 9:30 p.m. During the break, emcees Michael Anthony Cuffe and Paula Ann Porter supervised give-aways from Air Jamaica, SuperClubs and National Commercial Bank. This completed give-aways of chocolates and red roses that many had received earlier.
To say that Bryson electrified the audience is an understatement. During his performance, many were predicting that Roberta Flack could not top his set.
From She's Over Me to If Ever I'm in Your Arms Again, Show and Tell, Can You Stop The Rain and I Need To Know, Bryson really delivered. To the delight of one patron, he danced with her during his opening number and had the crowd on it's feet during the performance of the Latin song I Need to Know.
Talking the audience into frenzied anticipation, he teamed up for duets with his back-up singers, September Gray and Regina Cooper, in splendid renditions of his Grammy winning songs Beauty and the Beast and A Whole New World, respectively. Hand-clapping and foot-stomping accompanied the lively performance of Ain't Nobody Love Me Better so much so that when it was time for Bryson to leave the stage, the audience begged for an encore. He obliged.
An hour-long break saw a few patrons nodding off while some grumbled and a few left. It was therefore not surprising that when Roberta Flack took the stage, the 'vibes' had gone for many. They did not regain the warmth even though she gave a good account of herself.
From her Blue Lights in the Basement album she opened with Why Don't You Move In With Me and followed up with such popular favourites as The Closer I Get To You, Sweet Georgia Brown, Feel Like Making Love, Killing Me Softly, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and You've Got a Friend, accompanied by Susan Couch who did one song while Flack took a break.
Upon her return to the stage, Flack did one song from her upcoming album and the long awaited duet with Peabo Bryson -- Tonight I Celebrate My Love For You from the Born To Love album.
Although Flack demonstrated her versatility on keyboards, the night belonged to Peabo Bryson. The ballroom was almost full, the ambience was right, food and drink was in abundance, the performers delivered but organisers must find a way to eliminate long waits which put a damper on an otherwise excellent
production.
