Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
Karen Smith and Ernie Smith performing at An Evening of Duets, a show in celebration of Dwight Pinkney 60th birthday and his 40th anniversary in the entertainment business, held at the Cable and Wireless National Golf Academy, Park Boulevard, New Kingston on Sunday. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
WESTERN BUREAU:
GUITARIST AND sometimes vocalist Dwight Pinkney collected sufficient kisses to last a lifetime on Sunday night.
Nearing the end of his double celebration of 60th birthday and 40th year in music, Pam Hall brought attentive calm as she sang the perennial women's quandary, that it is "easy to be a woman/hard to be a wife". The song was at Dwight Pinkney's request, done to the appreciation of those clustered mostly to the front of the seating laid out on the grounds of the Caribbean Golf Academy in New Kingston.
DROPPED LEGS
Then she had a request for Pinkney, to join all the female performers on stage, and they sang happy birthday to a roots reggae rhythm. And just as Pinkney was saying "I'm speechless", Dean Fraser started the birthday song again 'yard style', his horn piercing as Pinkney dropped legs that showed no sign of ageing.
And then, as the ladies left the stage, Pinkney collected smooch after smooch from each on an unlined cheek, his smile staying happily in place with each smack.
Pinkney's dual celebration was billed as an evening of duets, supported mainly by his Distinguished Personalities Band, with a fluid cast of musicians, and hosted superbly by Norma Brown-Bell. It was a quick, yet not rushed, presentation of sometimes unusual combinations and many accustomed aggregations, classy in song selection yet not removed from the party feeling.
And there were those performers who, for the night, were separated from their usual 'partners'. Among these were Asley 'Grub' Cooper, who took leave of his accustomed drumsticks to sing I'll Be There with Gem Myers, and bass player Lloyd Parkes, who came on alone to deliver his congratulations to Pinkney Officially, falsetto and all.
Benjy Myaz did not leave his bass guitar behind as he and Sabrina Williams assured each other You Can Depend on Me.
There were two musicians, though, who have been in lockstep for decades who were quite at home together; Sly Dunbar on drums and Robbie Shakespeare on bass combined with Pinkney himself to deliver Night Nurse, Pinkney taking lead on guitar.
No words were needed for Dean Fraser on saxophone and Pinkney to trade verses on Dance With My Father, while Shirley McLean seemed to have the upper hand with the audience in her enduring argument with Pinkney as to which gender is the Bigger Boss.
Home T were at home together, a trio of twirls and all, while AJ Brown and Karen Smith combined to spark their now expected on-stage magic, to the delight of the audience.
There was a delightful run of female-male vocalist combinations, many times as appealing to the eye as the ear, the chemistry often underscored by hugs at the end of the songs. Heather Grant and Otis Gayle delivered Live On,
DiMario McDowell referred to his songbook for the foreign lyrics in his combination with Charmaine Limonius. Keisha Patterson and Oliver Gordon were truly Young, Gifted and Black, while Errol Lee and Angella Stewart shared Words. Nadine Sutherland and Andrew Cassonava also delivered a classic in You've Got a Friend, Ms. Sutherland's shoulders swinging and then her voice soaring to scat over Cassanova's voice on the final delivery of the refrain, adding a bit of a growl briefly to good effect.
Tall and as lean, though not green, and cool, Boris Gardiner was effortless as a well-tuned Bentley cruising the highway, as he teamed up with Mary Isaacs on Unforgettable, and coming up to the close of the show, which ended just past 11:00 p.m., Karen and Ernie made it a Smith affair on Ben' Down, the lady doing an excellent job on the second verse.
And after Tears on My Pillow and Duppy or Gunman, the audience demanded more of Ernie Smith and he delivered with Pitta Patta, but it was not quite over as all the performers returned for Marley's One Love, Dwight Pinkney saying a last thank you before handing over to Winston Blake on Merritone, who took a willing audience Down By The River to bring a distinguished night to an end around midnight.
