- WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
Lionel Richie in action.
Winston Sill, Freelance Writer
LIONEL RICHIE, American rhythm and blues king of the '70s and '80s, lived up to his reputation as a great performer at the 13th Barbados Jazz and Blues Festival.
Performing to a packed Sir Garfield Sobers gymnasium in the capital Bridgetown on Friday, January 13, Richie, who flew in that afternoon from shows in Hawaii, had the crowd standing for most of his 90-minute performance.
He sang hit after hit, many of them from his days with The Commodores. He started with Penny Lover, and the crowd went wild. He then eased his way into Easy Like Sunday Morning and went on to do Just To Be Close To You, Sail On and Three Times A Lady, before going into a reggae version of Se La, which went down well with the crowd.
Richie rapped with the audience during his performance and at one stage started the songs and let the crowd do the singing. He joked that they knew the songs better than him, continuing with Dancing On The Ceiling and Brickhouse. Along with musician Dino Soldo, who played the saxophone, harmonica and keyboards, he kept the audience delighted. At the end of his performance Richie got a standing ovation and the crowd kept calling for more. He returned to to do the ever-popular Hello and then ended with the uptempo All Night Long, living up to his billing as feature performer at the festival.
The show started 30 minutes late as he came directly from the airport, but the performance justified the wait and there were no complaints.
JILL THRILLS
Two days earlier, Jill Scott turned in a good show at the same venue to a fair-size crowd. She opened with Golden and reeled off other hits, including Getting In The Way, Love Rain, Whatever, One Of The Magic and He Loves Me for her encore. Dressed in a full-figured T-shirt and fancy jeans, she raised eyebrows in the audience, some of whom were dapperly dressed. This prompted Scott to remark that she thought it was a festival and less of a formal concert, but that didn't hinder her performance.
Richie and Scott were the sole performers on their respective nights and this raised a few questions from patrons. Some were a little peeved that unlike years past, there were no opening acts before the main performers.
The entire Barbados Jazz Festival week was good, with large crowds attending the venues. On Tuesday, January 10, the Heritage Park in the Rum Factory featured local talent the Art Work band, as well as Wayne Willock with his band, Brainstorm. They held their own during intermittent downpours of rain which, though not dampening the spirit of the audience, often had them scurrying to the covered bar area. Art Work kicked off the night's proceedings, then Brainstorm took over with some of their tunes. Willock led a reggae-flavoured Bridgetown in tribute to veteran calypsonian Gabby, which was well received.
Coming up to the close of the week, in the wake of Richie, Saturday and Sunday's shows at Farley Hill Park were again a hit. Saturday's show featured hometown boy Arturo Tappin, Cindy Alexander and Norman Brown, as well as promising teenage group Chicos del Habana from Cuba, led by 18-year-old drummer Gypsi Garcia Calzadilla.
TAPPIN BLEW UP A STORM
Alexander and her group opened the show and she set the pace with her vocals, as well as artistry on guitar and keyboards. Then came Tappin and he blew up a storm. A performer at 'the hill' for years, some patrons felt it was his best performance. He played the alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, delivering Tempted To Touch, Love Won't Let Me Win, Java, I Wish, Ordinary People and Tobago, among others.
After a 75 minute performance, the crowd was still warm to Tappin, and he delivered DJ's Waistline Shots. He was well supported by a group of musicians which included soca artiste Rupee on keyboard.
Saturday's show closed with guitarist Norman Brown who, though not popular, made hundreds of new fans with his performance. His soul/jazz music included songs from his albums After The Storm and the Grammy-winning Just Chillin'. He paid musical tribute to Luther Vandross, Wes Montgomery and Jimi Hendrix.
The final show of the 2006 Barbados Jazz Festival was on Sunday, January 15, and featured the Gary Davis Band, the Cuban Jazz All Stars and Boney James. The Cubans started off a little slowly, but found their rhythm and had the Latin dancers and aficionados rushing to the front of the stage. The Gary Davis Band had a good stint and had the crowd excited. So too did Boney James.
UNFAMILIAR SONGS
As the curtain descended on another edition of the festival, some patrons who were initially concerned about the many new names and unfamiliar songs left satisfied. The fresh acts did well, especially at Farley Hill with its picnic/family atmosphere.
The festival was organised by the GMR International Tours, headed by Cuban-born Gilbert Rowe, who seemed satisfied with how things turned out. The other major sponsor was the Barbados Tourism Authority ,with various companies including Cable and Wireless, Pepsi, Air Jamaica and the Sagicorps Group also making a contribution.
