Music to the ears - Bass in Konversation excites

Marcia Rowe, Gleaner Writer

From the large turnout, it was easy to forget that it was a rainy Sunday afternoon. Such is the popularity and support from the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, in association with Capital & Credit Financial Group Ltd, for the bimonthly Jazz in the Gardens. This particular instalment of the event was called Bass in Konversation.

"What keeps me coming back is the element of surprise," remarked Pearl Abbott, an ardent fan of the event. "Tonight's show was good, the standard was great from the beginning to the end," she concluded.

Her assessment of Bass in Konversation was accurate. The change in venue, on Sunday, from the gardens of the Pegasus to the ballroom, was no deterrent to the local performers who, backed by extensive experience, gave thrilling presentations in pure jazz and jazz fusion.

The first act was bass guitarist Dale Haslam. He got the conversation going with Jimmy Cliff's Many Rivers to Cross, followed by his original piece Time After Time.

Haslam was given support on bass by Maurice Gordon and Luke Dixon, Desi Jones on drums, and Othneil Lewis and Chris McDonald on keyboard. While the faces of the bass players changed, McDonald and Jones remained for subsequent acts.

Musical discourse

Michael Kennedy was next. He continued the musical discourse with Be Happy and English Man in New York, while Dwayne Livingston followed and gave a good a performance.

When veteran musician Lloyd Parkes, without We The People, took the stage he promised to provide something a little different and so he did. He not only conversed with his guitar, but also vocally. He generated humour in his banter between his selections and had the audience rocking to Members Only, Broken Heart and Officially.

Boris Gardiner, another Jamaican musical icon, described himself as a "singer who plays bass when I can" before he performed When I Get to Phoenix, and proclaimed Loves Been Good to Me. On his return by request of the audience, he sang Pledge My Love.

Part two began with Benjy Myaz asking, What's Going On before he told the audience What Love is All About.

Cindy Breakspeare, who was absent due to a family emergency, was replaced by Karen Smith. And once again Smith demonstrated why she is often described as Jamaica's songbird. Her act was solid. She began her dialogue with On that Clear Day followed by Final Flicker of Life. She justified her place in the conversation with a personal anecdote that revealed how she met her bass player husband, Jackie Jackson. Then she launched into what amounted to be a page of his catalogue and a stroll down memory lane. The songs included Sweet Sensation and 5446, and Fever, a jazz selection which she used to conclude her performance.

Delighted and entertained

Five-year-old Daniel Kennedy and two-year-old Jahmie Amos, will always remember having Karen invite them onstage, to dance, a gesture that delighted and entertained the audience.

As is customary for Jazz in the Gardens, the closing act was a coming together of all the artistes on the programme. But while having six excellent bass players on one stage at the same time gives a reason to be excited, the final act of Bass in Konversation was not special, particularly when compared with the way Konversation in Ivory ended. The absence of the interplay between artistes was missed.

But Roydel and Faye Kinghorn, also ardent supporters, like Abbott, gave Bass in Konversation the thumbs up. They too are lovers of jazz music and have been attending the event for many years.