By Tanya Batson, Staff reporter 
AJ Brown (left) and Karen Smith (right) gave sterling performances at Breezes Runaway Bay recently - File
THE WEEKEND found Karen Smith, Gem Myers and A. J. Brown all singing for charity. Their cause was the Marjorie Simms Kidney Fund. The concert took place on Friday night at Breezes Runaway Bay, and was a part of the hotel's staff's attempt to raise $1 million for their co-worker.
Karen Smith, wearing a slate blue dress that changed colour in the different lights, was the first of the three to take the stage. A part of being a great performer is knowing how to pick your material, and Smith certainly chose well. She began with the timeless classic Loving You. The combination of the song's cool melody and her superb voice control made it an excellent start to a great show.
The beginning was not the high point however, because as soon as that song was over she took the temperature a few degrees higher with Peggy Lee's Fever. She introduced the song by saying; "I'd like to do something that works anytime." This was a very appropriate way to describe that very 'lovely way to burn'.
It was then time for her to delve into her original work. "Ah have a chune on the radio," she told the audience in an almost conspiratorial tone, bringing them deeper into her web. Smith further remarked that the song is a prayer. At that point she treated the audience to her new 'rockers tune' which seemed to go over very well with the audience.
Her song took the show down a reggae route. She followed it up with Marcia Griffith's Love is Real. "Ah so we love Marcia, yuh know," she told the audience. Smith's performance once again demonstrated that she is able to sing a variety of songs, easily blending her voice to them, even though she adds her own flavour.
Smith's reggae segment consisted of a medley including Beres Hammond's Rock Away and Al Green's God Is Standing By. Unfortunately, while she was performing the latter, the microphone jinx decided to work its mischief. The microphone suddenly added an unwanted gravely tone to Smith's voice.
Being a consummate performer, this event did not faze her in the least. She simply switched microphones. This did not work however. Still undaunted, Smith simply rose above the problem. She ended her performance with Take All of Me, taking the evening back to jazz. Exultant applause greeted the end of her show.
Gem Myers was the next singer to take to the stage. Her performance showed that she continues to live up to her name. Myers began her performance outside of the room. As a result, the first long, strong, distinctive notes of Let's Stay Together filled the room, but seemed to have no point of origin. Soon however, she burst through the doors and strutted up to the stage.
She then kicked up the tempo by performing her remake of Shame On You. Dressed in a saucy black ensemble, she quite shimmered on the stage. Her performance was a lively contrast to the smooth easy tones of Smith's earlier performance. Myers often added a bit of deejaying to her tunes and sometimes yelled "Pull Up!" in true dancehall fashion, when she hit a particularly high point. The audience loved it.
Myers continued the Marcia Griffiths trend which Smith had begun earlier. This time a slew of the reggae icon's songs were performed. She kept the tempo up and the house rocking, singing Griffiths hits fromFalling In Love to I Feel Like Dancing. She even engaged in a little re-mixing by infusing Toots Hibbert's 54-46 with I Feel Like Dancing. The applause coming from the audience indicated that they were certainly enjoying themselves.
At this point, Myers announced that she was about to cool things down, but by the look of the audience she seemed to be heating them up. Going into contemporary R&B she performed Alicia Key's two most popular songs, Falling and A Woman's Worth. She hit all the right notes, and showed the world that Alicia Keys had nothing on her. The audience sang along lustily, even if they were way off-key.
That saw the end of any attempt to cool down, as the tempo was shoved into overdrive with Patti La Belle's Lady Marmalade. She ended by going back to reggae with her original One Man Woman. Before she ended, however, she yelled 'Pull up!' one more time, sending the excitement even higher. Almost everyone was singing along.
A. J. Brown's performance was no less spectacular than these of both women. He was lively and dynamic. He weaved an energetic web around the audience, thrilling them with his skill. Brown began with R. Kelly's The World Greatest but soon added a bit of humour by yelling "Hey yo! Hello!" which greatly amused the audience.
He too had a new original he wanted to try out on the audience. Like Smith's previous tune, Brown's song smacked of rockers reggae, and also went over well with the audience. He soon changed the tempo to R&B by singing How We Do It. He then moved to You Got it Bad. Half way through this song, he stated, "Somebody say pull up" to which the audience quickly responded. Unfortunately for Brown, by this time, the band, Wright Inc., was having trouble keeping pace with his selections. However, when he selected reggae, they seemed to be in their element and performed quite well.
Then it was time to break out the really big guns. Brown drew on his own classic tune, When You Love. This song seemed to set the place a fire. It seemed to be the perfect way to end the show. Yet it was not over. The gates had been smashed open and the great tunes continued to flow. My Father My Friend came forth and rocked the house.
In bringing the show to an end, the three performers closed off with Love Train, which incidentally did not live up to any of their individual performances. The concert had also featured fashion by Uzuri International, worn by Spartan models.
