Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
Pam Hall was well recieved at 'Jazz Time' at Weekenz on Sunday. Here she performs on the Mothers and Daughters Show, held at Mas Camp, Oxford Road, New Kingston, last September. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
THE SINGERS stood tall at Sunday's 'Jazz Time', held at Weekenz, Constant Spring Road, on Sunday evening. And it was not only because, with one exception, they were all women and wore killer heels.
"The bassie rough man!" Pinkney said, starting rhythmic handclaps in his appreciation, picked up by the audience, as the two stood nearly toe to toe and jammed. The guitarist ended with 'Jammin'', 5:15 stopping periodically as required as Pinkney played Holy Mount Zion.
NEW GIRL ON THE BLOCK
The band struck up the music to Maxi Priest's That Girl and new girl on the block, Julia Kirby, had a go at Am I That Same Girl, ending on a high with "why don't you stop". "I like this song because I think it's sexy. Sort of suite me," she said, before doing Mona Lisa, an improvement on her first effort.
Sabrina Williams stopped Through The Fire before singing even a note. "At rehearsal I said to these gentlemen 'yu young, but yu have to make love to the song'," Williams said, and they duly started over with more verve, vim and vitality. Williams dedicated Sister You Been On My Mind to specific ladies in the audience, ending with a sharp 'fine', left hand on her hip, before closing with the 'Click Song', rocking and stepping in her spikes as the audience members danced along in their seats.
EXPRESSED DELIGHT
Pat Gooden hit a vocal high, delivering Cuando, her silver flecked blue dress shimmering as she danced. Summertime was warm on the edges of the cold front that brought the chill to Weekenz, Gooden beamed as she expressed delight in being a girl and ended with My Heart Will Go On, holding a final note that went on and on.
There were whoops of delight as Fabian started 'Georgia' without fanfare and more of the same as he moved to Change Must Come as smoothly as the automatic transmission of a new top quality car. He ended with Crazy In Love Am I.
Winsome Benjamin started with At Last, her body hugging, shimmering blue dress, with a sedate split showing a toned left calf, clinging to her supple movements as the glove would have if it had fit O.J. Simpson. Sentimental Reasons followed and she sang of 'evening breeze' in the cold night air, the audience swaying to When Autumn Leaves Fall. She took a quick drive down Route 66 and put tremendous joy into her closing Let's Stay Together.
The evening's hostess, Faith D'Aguilar chipped in with I Don't Care and Tyehimba said "it is jazz time, but it also rap time."
JAZZY SINGER
Pam Hall closed 'Jazz Time', starting with Like Someone In Love from the Testament album, done with Ernie Ranglin. She did an interpretation of Take It Slow for which the applause began before she ended sort of slow. Feel So Good Today, also from the album and which she was performing for the first time, expressed how she felt about Jamaica's success at the Commonwealth Games. Her rendition of Running Away showed just why she thinks Bob Marley is a jazzy singer.
"In my opinion this is the first dub tune," Hall said. And it was a very sexy dub as well, Hall swinging hips and snapping fingers to Fever, ending with her left hand curled over her head, palm flat, knees bent and pressed together and looking down to her left, smiling slightly.
She ended with a trip on the A Train, before all the singers returned for a closing One Love, led by Benjamin, the audience standing and joining in.
