Bent on stage at Red Bones, the Blues Café, in St. Andrew. - Contributed Photos JANA BENT had a rather interesting problem last Saturday on-stage at Red Bones, the Blues Café. There she was, stunningly sexy in a pair of extremely low white 'lowriders', an equally tiny top covered by a small jacket -- all in white. In fact, just looking at her on-stage was worth the cost of admission -- especially when you take into consideration the fact that she had to keep pulling her pants up, since they constantly threatened to display a little more of Jana then she probably had in mind.
It was a rare local live performance from Jana Bent, where she was ably supported by a deliberately understated Richie Cunningham on congo drums and her somewhat flamboyant brother Rupert on, alternately, guitar and keyboard on-stage.
The Gleaner arrived around half-an-hour late for the show, arriving at the moderately packed café just in time to hear Jana Bent's rendition of the 80s hit Wouldn't It Be Good, originally done by Nick Kershaw. She displayed a little bit of a problem going for the high notes, but otherwise did a good job of reprising the little-known (in Jamaica at least) but classic song. She then performed an original, the low-keyed Home Is Where You Are, before segueing into the Goo Goo Dolls' Iris from the City of Angels soundtrack, but not before mentioning the little-noted fact that the name Iris actually never appears in the song.
The moderate crowd on hand at Red Bones was slightly older than may have been expected -- and their age was reflected in their expressions of appreciation, which were mostly restricted to clapping, but who were clearly enjoying themselves. The exception was what seemed to be Jana's personal cheering section, a young lady who clapped, hooted and screamed much more appropriately in response to the singer.
As the night went on, Jana visibly warmed up on-stage gyrating a little more, swivelling her hips a bit more often but never quite getting all the way into the swing of things. When The Gleaner spoke with her after her performance, she detailed how she was too focused on the crowd instead of her music, which affected how 'free' she felt on-stage -- in other words she was a little nervous.
After bopping her way through Janet Jackson's Love Will Never Do Without You, Jana started singing on tracks, performing some originals from her next album. Shadow Girl was up next, which presented the point of view of a woman who tends to find herself attached to already-involved men -- the shadow girlfriend. One on One, which she penned with Italee, followed, which is supposed to be a duet replying to a man's request for a threesome (for the record, the answer is no).
Sing was up next and then it was time for the closer. After taking a few moments to locate her partner in crime, Herbie Harris, they launched into You're So Fine, which Harris made hilariously good with his 'look how me sexy' refrains interspersed among Jana's lively vocals as the two flirted, wined and danced for the audience.
Jana Bent also spoke of her stint in Negril the days before the show, performing for the Jerry Springer Show, where she ended up doing five shows instead of one, having impressed the producers and leaving the other unfortunate bands scheduled in the dust. The shows are scheduled to air in May.
