Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

Lil Joe involves a female patron in the Wurdz N' Rydimz.

'Wurdz n' Rydimz' were promised at the Jonkanoo Lounge, Hilton Kingston hotel in New Kingston, on Sunday evening, and duly delivered to an audience which occupied almost all of the seats provided.

There was also healthy serving of sight and sound, as white tablecloths and strips of white cloth strategically placed on the ceiling, along with lit scented candles on each table, made the lounge a beauty for eyes and nostrils.

And with the performances by Duane Francis, who doubled as host of the monthly event's debut, a steamy Sajoya and emphatic show closer Steppa, taking place in a rectangular area lined with seated audience members on three sides, there was plenty of room to take a good look at the night's performers.

Synchronised, graceful movement

However, as the evening moved from DJ Afifa's selections of Sade, Jah Cure and Dingo, among others, and a pair of dancers had synchronised, graceful movement with spoken words, Francis stepped into the performance area with poetry.

The word warmed up with Haya, Michael, Pete and Takura, who declared "is a food war me a fight an' me mus' win" in encouraging farming, as well as saying "is only one way me woulda want a machine/fe defen' me African queen" in dispensing figurative death to rapists to the enthusiasm of the audience.

Lil Joe provided the night's live 'rydimz', moving easily around the performance area and at one point sinking to his knees on Not Good At All, as well as inviting individual ladies to join him on stage for Love Solution, dropping an Elvis Presley style leg and hip movement on the reggae love song.

Mainly poetry

Dwayne Francis gets passionate at Wurdz N' Rydimz, held at the Jonkanoo Lounge, Hilton Kingston Hotel, Knutsford Boulevard, New Kingston on Sunday. A female member of the audience takes part in the presentation. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

From there on, it was mainly poetry, Francis switching to performer mode and introducing himself as the 'Snypa Poet'. He ran a murder 101" class where "to qualify first kill yu soul and sell yu conscience" before switching to his favourite kind of poems. And from asking "let me be the one to give you 10,000 reasons to scream my name" to honouring the Lady In The Blue Dress, Francis delved into the ladies with a delight which was returned.

The movement of a six-person Capoeira team hung in the balance between graceful and hair-raising, as three women sang and played percussions and a string instrument while three men demonstrated the Brazilian martial art. Working in combinations of two, first they went slowly then picked up the pace with breathtaking intentional near misses and terrific tumbling rewarded with very strong applause.

The evening's live performances ended with Steppa who said "a one way me know fe do it" before his voice rose into a powerful, rhythmic cadence, urging all to "listen to Steppa" and "bun a gal whe a bleach out har colour of creating", to strong support from the audience.