Photo by Adrian Frater
J.T. Taylor and his trio of back-up singers turn on the excitement.

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

The first lady of soul, the multi-Grammy Award winning Anita Baker, was all the rage at the scenic Aqueduct at Rose Hall, in Montego Bay, on Thursday, as she stole the spotlight on the opening night of 2008 Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival with a fabulous performance.

While the potency of the Latin funk-flavoured music of Yesba Buena, the driving mixture of vocal and instrumental from the masterful Spyro Gyra, the creativity and energy of the former Kool & The Gang lead singer J.T. Taylor, all created favourable impressions on the fans, it was classy Anita who came, saw and conquered.

In a performance which was briefly halted by the promoters and Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, who stopped her performance to present her with a birthday cake to mark her 50th birthday which she celebrated yesterday, Anita hit centre stage at 12:20 a.m. and it was all magic as she had the audience at her mercy for the next one hour and a two-song encore.

With her black dress sparkling as if in unison with the multicoloured stage lights, the soulful Anita simply went about charming the fans as her velvet-smoot voice caressed songs such as Sweet Love, Been so Long, No One In The World, Rapture and the all-time favourite of many Jamaicans, Giving You The Best That I Got, which combined to set off a singing and dancing frenzy among the fans.

When she initially exited the stage at 1:20 a.m., Anita's departure was greeted with predictable screams of 'more', 'more', which prompted MC Richard 'Ritchie B' Burgess to invite her back for an encore.

Showing off her versatility and class, Anita sang Body & Soul and Fairy Tale, two of the songs the fans shouted out as request, before picking up her birthday cake and a handful of red roses and, with her broad smile flashing, exited the stage to more screams of 'more', 'More', which did not elicit another encore.

Brilliant set

J.T. Taylor, the signature voice on many of the trademark hits of Kool & The Gang, demonstrated the full range of his R&B power, as closing the show in the aftermath of Anita Baker's brilliant set he showed no signs of being intimidated as he took on the task manfully, with capable assistance from his three busty back-up singers/dancers, who combined to make his performance memorable.

In what seemed a superbly choreographed set, the quartet, which changed outfits at regular intervals, to include the ladies charging into sparkling white wedding gowns, J.T. Taylor poured on the hits with remarkable ease, reeling off Get Down On It, Lady's Night and Joanna in an impressive opening salvo.

In between chit-chatting with the fans, the energetic J.T. Taylor unleashed a dazzling array of dance moves and, at one point, he donned a flowing white robe complete with mask, to add character to the song, Misled. In fact, there was no stopping the multi-award winning artiste as he further stamped his class on songs such as Too Hot, Cherish The Love, Jungle Boogie and Reggae Dancing.

Instrumentally, the New York based Spyro Gyra was awesome as their famed saxophonist, Jay Beckenstein, showed what can be achieved when an instrument is mastered. It was all pulsating music as they blended jazz, blues and a generous offering of reggae to stunning effect. Needless to say, they found sweet traction with the appreciative audience.

In fact, the talented Spyro Gyra, which once had an album that spent 64 weeks on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Chart, was all over the audience for most of the set, delighting with instrumental offering such as Mountain Dance, The Roof Is On Fire and Bob Marley's, Crazy Bald Head and One Love.

Crazy dancing

Yerba Buena, the first of the international acts to perform, set an impressive pace with their Latin/African sound, which they backed up with crazy dancing, especially from their female lead singer CuCu Diamnates. It was a case of vocals marrying instruments as they made their mark on songs like What's The Matter With You and Little Donkey.

In the early segment, which preceded the main acts, the power of Jamaica's music was unveiled in fine style by the classy Duane Stephenson, formerly of To Isis, who shared his most entertaining set with Tarrus Riley; 14-year-violinist Jessica Yap, who was brilliant; A.J. Brown, who gave a polished performance; and John Williams, who skilfully fused reggae with jazz.