By Chaos, Freelance Writer
Jana Bent and her brother Rupert perform 'You So Fine' at the Village Café, in Liguanea, St. Andrew, last Thursday night in front of a packed house.
JANA BENT said she was not nervous. Not in the slightest. In fact, from all indications she was just raring to hit the stage at the Village Café in Liguanea, St. Andrew last Tuesday and that she did, in style.
Despite persistent technical problems, especially where microphones were concerned, Jana put on a show and then some. Jana Bent's lead single from her new album, Shadow Girl, the song of the same name, was the lead-off song for her set. Shadow Girl is a song in which she unabashedly says that she will be someone's mistress, no strings attached.
At the onset it was obvious that there were microphone problems, since it was practically impossible to hear her for the first few bars of the song. Some frantic signalling and a few shouts soon cleared that up however, at least for a while, and Jana sang the gorgeously-produced single with a verve and passion that had to be seen and heard to be believed. She writhed, gyrated and stalked the small stage, long hair flying with abandon, with energy to a song that the band, on occasion, gave one hell of a rock beat and that not just asked for, but demanded and got, the undivided attention of the large audience on hand.
When The Gleaner arrived at the Village Café slightly after 10 p.m., the house band Ting Deh was playing a rather amusing rendition of what distinctly sounded like London Bridge Is Falling Down. At 10:48 p.m. band guitarist and leader Rupert Bent introduced his sister to the stage and the show began in earnest. With a red spot on her forehead, symbolic of Hindi culture, and clad in a dark purple, shimmery and rather tight pair of hipsters and a top barely held on to her body by a single strap, Jana Bent prowled the stage, thrust various body parts in numerous directions and sang her heart out for the packed café. The audience loved it. The microphone, or microphones rather, were a constant problem however. Jana switched from one to another, Rupert kept on calling for corrections and the music kept on drowning out Jana's surprisingly strong vocals. It did not really matter in the end however. To say that Ting Deh played might actually be something of a mistake, since there were a steady string of musicians on the night who swapped instruments, took breaks and just did whatever crossed their minds so that it was almost impossible to keep track. Jana was backed by Rupert Bent, who plays an excellent lead guitar and was also on keyboards, Baird Baillie on drums, Richard Patterson also on keyboards and bass, the excellent Gibby also on guitar and Andrew 'Pregs' Thompson on percussion. It was an insane night.
After Shadow GirlJana Bent bounced around on-stage as she sang Sing. She introduced the song as not being soca, before asking "You guys like soca?" and receiving an enthusiastic "Yes!" in reply. "It's a happy song," she said, before singing over some backing track vocals. She was in constant motion before ending and saying "You know, I think you guys are right, it does sound like a soca song... Oh no curses... cusses."
One On One followed, and was introduced as a song written in collaboration with Italee, who, Jana said, is also known as 'Rude'. Unfortunately, this was a weaker effort on her part until the end, when the singer decided to let loose with her voice and really enthused those present.
The band gave the next song, Baby Boy, a rollicking introduction and Jana bounded across the stage before saying at the end that "It's funny the name of that song, since I had it with a pair of twins," before going on to explain the song's connection with the 'Rhythm Twins' Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar. The next song, Never Seen You Cry, was driven by a wonderful bass riff courtesy of Patterson. It saw Bent switching troublesome microphones mid-stream with nary a break in her delivery.
As was the case on more than one occasion, Jana 'plugged' her next album, which is due out this Friday, stating after Never Seen You Cry that the songs were all originals and would be on the album, which will be available in music stores. After apologising about the technical difficulties and noting that Rodney 'Bounty Killer' Pryce was not present, Rupert Bent put on another hat and filled in for Herbie Hancock on You So Fine, Jana's biggest hit to date, gravel voice and all, drawing cheers during the performance. The switch in microphones also brought about a marked improvement in the quality of the vocals and people danced as they both sang.
The next song moved dizzily between blues and rock and roll, showcasing the band's skills and Jana's vocals. One Last Look was at times slow and sultry and at others rocking. Rupert Bent went off an excellent riff on lead guitar while the Baillie on the drums kept discrete time with the top hat.
"Is Rodney in the house?" asked Jana, before introducing a song written by her brother for their mother. She called Rupert her "...brother, producer, co-writer, multi-instrumentalist and friend," and thanking their mother for all she has done for the two. Say You Care is both sombre and stirring and showcases another aspect of Jana Bent's voice as she reached for and got a higher note or two than was usual.
Jana had long left the stage when Bounty Killer, who has recorded the song No Regrets with the singer, did turn up at the Village Café at four minutes to midnight. The open microphone segment had opened and one singer, Sheila, had already done her rendition of Bob Marley's Nuh Woman Nuh Cry. Rupert Bent called his sister to the stage, where she proceeded to introduce the deejay, who was appearing for the first time on-stage at the cafe. Seeing Bounty smile while performing is a rare thing, but that was the case last Tuesday. His entrance brought raucous cheers, which were even louder when he deejayed at an incredible pace and in perfect unison with Jona. Prior to the song he had spoken of Jana as his 'sister' and congratulated her. He also dedicated No Regrets to "All the people who live their life to the fullest without no regrets." Their performance was energy-filled as both played to the audience and was the high point of a night that was, to put it mildly, filled with very good performances.
