Michael Reckord, Contributor
THE JAMAICA Cultural Development Commission's (JCDC) on-and-off series of evenings of entertainment at the Louise Bennett Garden Theatre was on again last Sunday with 'An Evening of Praise and Worship'.
Coming first on to the attractively decorated stage was the Katalyst Krew, an ensemble of nine - five instrumentalists, two male lead singers and two female back-up singers. A dynamic group, they performed dancehall gospel, using not only the musical idiom of dancehall but also (in at least two numbers) some of the topics of dancehall guns, drugs and violence. Of course, they were against these.
One lead singer spoke of growing up in a violence-torn August Town. "It wasn't easy," he said, "but then I met Jesus."
LIVELY THREE-SONG SET
Up next was Rocquel Edwards, a finalist in a recent Gospel Song competition. Also a very sincere young lady, she delivered a lively three-song set, starting off with 'Jesus, You Are My Healer'. For her other two songs she substituted her own words but used the tunes of two well-known pop songs.
To taped music the next artiste, Jeanny Clarke, sang rather weakly a number of songs, including 'Lonely is the Road', 'Arise', and 'Hurry Up'.
Racquel Hinds ended the first half of the concert with mediocre singing of 'Are Your Feeling Discouraged?' and 'Shattered But Not Broken', but after a 20-minute intermission the quality of the presentations got much better. Thirteen-year-old Sheldon Anderson, the 2005 Children's Gospel Competition second-place winner, showed off his strong voice and good stage presence with 'That Same Blood' and 'He's My Daddy O'.
THE PENULTIMATE PERFORMER
Stavan Whyte, the 2003/4 Popular Song Contest winner, was the penultimate performer and, for The Gleaner, the most entertaining singer of the evening. In his rough, dynamic voice he first belted out a medley ('Rock of Ages', 'Daniel Saw De Stone', 'Fly Away Home'), then did 'Jesus, Come Now', before chatting humorously with the audience as he introduced the deejay hit 'De Holy Ghost a De Penicillin'. According to Whyte, it is the cure for diseases like "lie-itis, tief-itis" and other crimes.
A true entertainer, Whyte showed his versatility by imitating the styles of other performers, like Celine Dion, Lady Saw, Beenie Man and Cobra.
The 2004 Gospel Contest winner Lubert Levy, with his three-piece band and two female back-up singers, ended the show with an energetic set. His songs included 'It Was Written Down There', 'It Shall Be Well' and 'Satan, We Bind You'. He, too, had the audience dancing to his music.
