Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
TAPPIN
THE NIGHT'S aim was philanthropy and its mode of transmission was a combination of dinner and jazz. So it was that that the sounds of Arturo Tappin, Charles Etienne and the Desi Jones Band made joyful, jazzy noise at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Monday night.
Dubbed 'The Stars are Shining Brightly', the evening was presented by the Women's Leadership Initiative (WLI) in an attempt to raise funds for VOUCH and, according to Pat Ramsay, WLI chairman, the particular emphasis is on keeping the clinic open.
The Desi Jones Band, featuring Jones on drums, Dale Haslam on bass and Peter James on keyboard, kept the atmosphere mellow during dinner with Christmas tunes and jazz infused takes of R&B and reggae. The delivered the likes of Feel Good All Over, Jammin', O Holy Night and So Nice to Be With You.
The night's main performing saxophonist, Arturo Tappin, came to the stage after dinner with impressive, pop-infused blasts of jazz. Accompanied by the Desi Jones Band and Charles Etienne on trumpet, he first delivered I Wish.
A touch of calypso mingled with jazz was then tossed into the mix with Fungi Mama. "That was lovely," enthused one woman as the final notes of the song died away. The performers also delivered straight jazz as well as inflections of R&B with the likes of Mo Better Blues, the title track from the Spike Lee film and The Closer I Get to You.
As he was about to deliver The Closer I Get to You, Tappin delivered a disclaimer. He noted that the song was made famous by Robertha Flack and Donnie Hathaway. Its duet nature would be maintained by himself and Etienne. However, he noted that it had become a threesome, where the trumpet and the sax were attempting to woo the same woman, rather than each other. "I know we're in Jamaica," he said with a laugh to the amused audience.
Of course, the night was about more than great music, so it included addresses by Alvaro Casserly, chairman of United Way, and Brenda LaGrange Johnson, U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica.
As one left the room, pictures of smiling children reminded that the night's aim was philanthropy; it had simply been given a cloak of jazz beautifully woven by Tappin and the Desi Jones Band.
