Michael Reckord, Contributor
TO EVEN the casual observer, the monthly Jazz in the Garden series at the Jamaica Pegasus is superbly organised. Still, during quick conversations with Production Co-ordinator Ken Nelson and Executive Producer Nancy McLean at last Sunday's concert, the Gleaner got an insight into the forward planning that goes into the event.
As the evening's star performer, Barbara Cadet of St Lucia, was preparing to come on, Mr Nelson mentioned a previous Eastern Caribbean musician who had performed in the series and said that he was planning to continue having visiting regional musicians.
"I'm going to have a Trinidadian next," he said, though he wasn't sure who it would be.
After the show, a very pleased Ms McLean revealed: "I just dreamt up the concept for December's show," she declared. "We'll bring back all the Caribbean artists for a Caribbean festival of music."
She had every reason to be pleased. The versatile Cadet had just delighted the large audience with an excellent set, showcasing her talents as a saxophonist (on both soprano and alto sax), keyboardist, song writer and vocalist.
Introduced by emcee Norma Brown-Bell as a highly-rated, experienced musician who had appeared at a number of music festivals -including, the St Lucia Jazz Festival - Cadet showed with every number that her fine reputation was deserved. Her early offerings included the standard Take the A Train and Killer Joe.
After the hybrid "Blue Bossa," jazz with a bossa-nova beat, she started singing. Her voice was strong and naturally "jazzy," but she deliberately "played" it like a musical instrument so that, at times, it sounded like her saxophone. Her songs included Missing You, Just Can't Seem to Get You Outa My Mind, and her tribute to Marley, The Sun is Shining.
Her on-stage personality was as vivacious as her playing and she was both thrilling to listen and watch. The other musicians playing with her also seemed to enjoy her performance.
ENSEMBLE
They included Seretse and Friends, an ensemble comprising Seretse Small (guitar), Karl Gibson (bass) Dillon White (drums) and Kathy Brown and Jerome Tulloch (keyboards). They opened the concert. Small's original tunes included "Dancing in Degrasse," a bouncy, scatting-filled tribute to a well-known local dancer-choreographer, and "Kas-Kas," a calypso flavoured tune which, Small said, reflected his trans-Caribbean heritage. He was referring to the fact that his father is from Trinidad and Tobago, his mother from Guyana while he himself was born in Jamaica.
Like Cadet, Small displayed an ebullient stage presence - as did the other featured performers, singers Maurice Henry and Keisha Patterson. The former, whose songs included Ramblin' Rose, As I Write This Letter, and Leaving Me Standing, had a damaged voice and poor diction but a charming manner, and he delighted many ladies in the audience as he serenaded some and danced with one.
Patterson was perfection. The young lady who for years impressed audiences with her appearances in musicals and concerts staged by the Jamaica Junior Theatre and Jamaica Musical Theatre Company, is currently a cabaret artist with an even wider following.
In her pure, rich, wide-ranged voice, she sang Day In, Day Out, the Norah Jones hit Don't Know Why, I Cried For You, and People Who Need People, among others.
After Patterson came the break, during which the audience enjoyed hors d'oeuvres and also jazz on discs selected by Mutabaruka.
