WHEN THE McCam Child Development Centre dubbed the evening of music at the Mona chapel 'The Evening of Excellence in Music' they were not merely pulling words from a hat. The cadre of vocalists and instrumentalists who performed signified every syllable of the name.
The stones of the Mona chapel, on the University of the West Indies, Mona,St. Andrew reverberated with good music for close to two hours on Sunday evening. The evening began with classical music before dancing its way over to jazz during the second half.
With the acoustics of the chapel, no microphones were necessary for the performers. As such, the evening was free of annoying glitches, bleeps and screeches which so often accompany sound amplification. Wondrous music was given free rein, and reign it did.
POWERFUL
Paul Williamson's clear powerful tenor belled the evening off to a sonorous start. Williamson performed four pieces Panis Angelicus, My God and My King, Le Mamoir de Rosemonde and Honour Honour'.
Williamson then passed the musical baton on to Stephen Shaw Naar, who handled it with grace. Naar, who had also accompanied Williamson, would be the pianist for the first half of the evening, but it was his solo performance which showed the extent of his talent. At the end of Naar's beautifully rendered Mephisto Waltz, the evening's compere Craig Young aptly captured Naar's performance when he declared it a "fantastic journey."
Alec Marten Blanken infected the evening with a bit of spirit, soul and jazz with his performance. His solo stint on the piano ended with a head-bopping, stirring version of Mercy, Mercy.
Ian Hird also brought continued the jazz train, this time on the saxophone. At the end of Hird's performance Young pointed out that the "saxophone is the Herbal Essence of instruments." His comment was in relation to what he described as the blushes of several female patrons at the end of Hird's performance.
MUSIC TO THE EARS
Hird took advantage of the setting to meander his way through the audience, while playing Misty often pausing the blow a few sweet notes in the ears of the women.
The final major instrumentalist of the evening was Nicholas Laraque. He delivered two pieces, Javanaise and Irlandaise. Hearing Laraque play 'Javanaise' on the flute it is easy to understand how the pied piper's magic worked. The evening's vocalists also proved masters of their instruments.
At the end of the performances, that it was indeed a 'Evening of Excellence in Music' rang very true.
