Adrian Frater, News Editor

Chuck Mangione during his performance at the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival opening night at Half Moon Shopping Village in Montego Bay, St. James, on Tuesday. The two-time Grammy winner captivated his audience with pieces such as 'Dizzy Miles', 'Bellavia' and 'Feel so Good'.

WESTERN BUREAU:

In a performance that earned him a standing ovation, two-time Grammy winner and trumpeter extraordinaire Chuck Mangione lifted patrons into a state of musical euphoria in the spacious theatre at the Half Moon Shopping Village as the 2007 Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues began its five-night Montego Bay run on Tuesday night.

Taking the stage in an intimate house-party atmosphere, which was created by earlier acts Kelly Love Jones, Robin Banks and the Maurice Gordon quartet, Chuck Mangione wasted little time in stamping his authority, exciting the fans with his calm, cool but thoroughly professional display.

With solid instrumental and vocal support coming from his supporting cast, the small-framed trumpeter was a giant on stage as he displayed complete mastery over the keyboard and his trumpet, which had the patrons breaking out in spontaneous applauds as he opened with selections such as Bellavia, Dizzy Miles, a tribute to his mentors Dizzy Gillispie and Miles Davis; and Land of Make Belief.

As the tempo rose, Mangione's mastery and that of his fellow musicians became even more obvious as they continue to mesmerise with selections such as Funny Game, Children of Sanchez, and the pulsating, Feel So Good, which all but brought the house down.

As he lowered his trumpet, bowed his head in recognition of the generous applause and then turned his back on centre stage after one hour and 15 minutes of shear musical magic, it was abundantly clear that it will take something special to outdo Chuck Mangione over the next four nights of the annual music festival.

The Maurice Gordon quartet, which was the penultimate act, was also in fine fettle and clearly showed that while Jamaica is better known for reggae and its off-shoot dancehall, the island has class acts in other genre, such as jazz and R&B.

Patrons give Chuck Mangione a standing ovation following his closing song, 'Feel so Good'.

Drawing heavily on his own material, Maurice Gordon was quite brilliant instrumentally on his lead guitar, as well as vocally with his compelling lyrics. The sterling bass guitar work of Dwayne Livingstone and the crisp delivery on drums by Tony 'Ruption' Williams were also splendid revelation on a night when high quality music ruled supreme.

It was mellow music at its best as Gordon reeled off selections entitled Blues, Irie Mood, Mek de Music Flow, Jamaican Flora, and the expertly delivered cover of Don Drummond's Confucius, which created quite a stir among the appreciative fans.

The handclapping and feet-stomping of the patrons reached a crescendo when Gordon ended his set with an instrumental delivery done to the rhythm of Garnet Silk's Mama Africa, which was simply awesome and had some members of the audience jumping to their feet and cheering lustily.

Negril-based Canadian singer Robin Banks showed in no uncertain manner that she has a good thing going. In between leaving the microphone behind and mixing and mingling with the crowd while singing as through she was in her backyard, she really connected with the audience in a big way.

The energy in her stage movement and the charisma in her delivery was quite evident as Robin Banks' delivery of songs such as, T-Bone Shuffle, Teenie Little Bit, the thought-provoking Built for Comfort, and Next Time You See Me, clearly created a big impact.

Opening act Kelly Love Jones was at a disadvantage, as when she performed, only a handful of patrons were in the venue and she really had a tough time trying to generate some response. However, she tried her best and threw her all into her short performance, which feature only three songs, all expertly delivered.

Left: Negril-based Canadian singer Robin Banks in action.   Right: Maurice Gordon strums his stuff. - Photos by Claudine Housen/Staff Photographer