Adrian Frater, News Editor
International artiste Shaggy is joined by Ninja Man as he performs 'Church Heathen' in the 'Art of Reggae' segment of the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival at the Aqueduct, in Montego Bay. Shaggy closed the show. - Photos by Claudine Housen/Staff Photographer
Kenny Rogers, on stage during the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, in Rose Hall Montego Bay, on Friday. - Claudine Housen/Staff Photographer
Western Bureau:
On a night in which reggae invaded jazz's space, the expected spark was missing as while a few acts were good, Friday night's penultimate night of the 2007 Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival was lukewarm at best.
While he managed to satisfy his less demanding fans, country and western star Kenny Rogers, fell woefully short of the brilliant set he played in 2004; and international reggae stars Sean Paul and Shaggy, who were expected to challenge him for dominance, only did enough to tweak the interest of the fans.
While the expectant fans, including Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, still operated like a choir in anticipation that Kenny Rogers would have delivered something special, they got all the major hits such as, Ruby don't take your love to town, Islands in the stream, The Gamble, Lucille and Coward of the County, but not the zest and charisma.
"Him still sound good but you can see that he is getting old," said a female fan of the 68-year-old Rogers, who has sold over 100 million records in his career. "I did not feel him tonight."
Of the non-reggae acts, the elder statesman of pop, Christopher Cross, in his debut appearance in Jamaica and the Robert Cray Band, which represents soul at its finest, basically did enough to justify the decision to include them in this year's special 10th anniversary line-up.
Soothingly soulful
Sanchez during his performance in the 'Art of Reggae' segment of Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival, in Montego Bay, early Saturday morning.
Christopher Cross was soothingly soulful and connected well with the crowd in his delivery of skilfully-handled renditions of, Sailing, New York City, Hey Laura and Forever. The Robert Cray outfit, which blended classy vocals with superb instrumental offering, was silky smooth, belting out selections such as, Poor Johnny, Twenty and The bad influence.
The 'Art of Reggae' segment, which featured reggae stand-out acts Sanchez, Freddy McGregor, Wayne Wonder, Ritchie Stephens, Sean Paul, Shaggy and a cameo by ace deejay Ninja Man, was quite interesting in many respects and sparked prolonged periods of dancing among the fans.
Sanchez, whose non-appearance on the recent staging of Rebel Salute sparked some amount of controversy, showed that he is still a top-flight crowd-pleaser. Dapper as usual in an elegant pastel coloured suit, he won himself an encore after he sparkled with his set featuring, Missing You, All My Life, Down by the River and his encore choice, Amazing Grace.
Freddy McGregor dug deep into his reservoir in coming up with hits such as Africa, Push come to shove, Big Ship and Loving Pauper but he seemed to have offended some patrons, who though his 11 song set was too long and at times, uninteresting.
Wayne Wonder was quite good in a set in which he showed that he is now a bonafide international star. Rather than dumping a barrage of songs on the fans, he resorted to just hits such as, Saddest day of my life, Bounce Along and Somebody, which excited the fans.
With Ritchie Stephens on and off in a flash, just introducing his new song, Jamaica - the anthem for the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup, Sean Paul took centre stage. Without going overboard, he showed his class on songs such as, TemperatureGive it up to me and All about life.
Shaggy was spot-on in a tidy set in which he show why he is one of reggae's most cherished commodities. With consummate ease, he had the patrons screaming as he gave them songs as, So We Love Dem, Hot Gal, Mr. Bombastic, Sexy Lady and his hot new single, Heathen, for which he was joined on stage by Ninja Man.
