By Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
LUCIANO LITERALLY pulled the plug at Club Juice in New Kingston last Thursday night.
Capping off that instalment of the weekly live 'Command Performance' series, which also featured Ketise, Chetenge, Ingel Chanta, Oku Onura and Mikey General in that running order, he started out on tracks. However, after Thank You Lord, Sweep Over My Soul and Never Give Up My Pride, Luciano strapped on his acoustic guitar.
"It is good to have this intimacy with the audience," he said with a smile as things were put in order. That intimacy had already seen his black hat, which had fallen off as he danced, being taken by a man in the front row, his clear glasses following suit.
What followed was a display of sheer artistry, with a healthy dose of good-natured humour. With Congo Billy on percussions to his left and Mikey General providing harmony into the same microphone to his right, Luciano plucked his instrument, pursed his lips and let out a piercing but melodious whistle.
The fair-sized audience immediately reacted to Guess What's Happening, but none as enthusiastically as the keeper of hat and glasses, who threw his head back and bellowed an off-key accompaniment less than 10 feet from an unperturbed Luciano.
Guess What's Happening was extended into a surprise rendition of Redemption Song, handclaps going up as the Marley classic took hold.
AD LIBBED
Luciano, his resonant voice caressing each perfectly enunciated syllable, took it even further when he ad libbed:
People say we are warboats, but we have music to rock your soul
People say we are poor, but we have good herb growing in our fields
Woah, Jamaica I love
Club Juice loved it.
Luciano adjusted his guitar a few times during his unplugged performance, commenting that he had just returned from England after a four-week tour and climate changes had an effect.
"After all that God has done for me, I take time to glorify His name and worship," he introduced an especially soulful version of It's Me Again Jah, after which he tweaked the guitar again. "It sounds better," he said, looking up from the instrument and grinning, and indeed it sounded much fuller as he started out with 'Glory hallelujah'. It evolved into a stupendous uptempo rendition of Lord Give Me Strength, as the newest member of the band at front and centre left out the off-key harmony and started rhythmic chants of 'Messenger'.
Luciano segued into It's Going Down and finished off with a last strum, which left his hand in the air and a beam on his face.
"You know, sometimes we try to give you something that is different," Luciano said, paying his respects to Stevie Wonder as he sang "Let Jah love shine throughout the world". It was a case of harmony in sight and sound, as the full-green clad Mikey General accompanied the khaki-suited Luciano, against a green, red and gold backdrop.
Luciano dipped into Heartbreaker to sing "Why do you disrespect, the Creator", this turning out to be his final number, or so he planned.
"Is this where we turn it off?" Luciano asked the MC, who was in the audience at the time. She shrugged and Luciano asked the crowd 'One more?'
Of course they said yes, and Luciano said "This one is called the fool says in their heart there is no God", striking up the guitar once more.
Luciano ended his unplugged performance with his face turned at right angles to the microphone, as he let out one last melodious 'day after day', the audience at Club Juice waking from their spell to give him strong applause.
