Gong closes jazz festival

Cecelia Campbell-Livingston Observer staff reporter

Monday, January 30, 2012

TEMPTATIONS Review, soca queen Destra and Junior Gong were the highlights on the final night of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival held at the Greenfield Stadium in Trelawny on Saturday.

Dapperly attired in black sequined shirts and white pants, the quintet Temptations Review commanded immediate attention with Ain't Too Proud To Beg.

In between some fancy footwork, they worked their magic with My Lady Soul, Papa Was A Rolling Stone and Don't Look Back.

It was a completely different vibes when Destra took centrestage. She pumped new life into the crowd as she jumped and pranced on stage getting them in the soca groove with Worky Worky, Max It Up and Carnival Time.

She diverted to give the crowd a taste of her rich vocals when she performed some of her declared idol Whitney Houston's songs.

Didn't We Almost Have It All, Saving All My Love, I Have Nothing and I Will Always Love were some of the Houston treats she delivered before "turning up the tempo" once more with her soca favourites.

Destra -- who said she flew in the island straight from a previous performance, and declaring she was leaving right after for another two engagements -- showed no signs of slowing down as she had the crowd waving rags, jumping and keeping pace with her high-energy delivery.

"I love you so bad Jamaica. I had to be here! When you want di place to mash up den call mi!" she shouted, as she went on to get the crowd super excited. The audience went wild as they danced and seemed really charged up. It was definitely carnival time at jazz fest.

Following an extraordinarily long band change, Damian 'Junior Gong' Marley brought the curtains down on the 2012 staging of the event.

Unlike the previous night's headliner Celine Dion, which saw everyone waiting for her to cap the night's performance, many exited the venue leaving the die-hard reggae fans to witness what was a sterling performance from the young Marley.

Coming on stage at 1:30 am, he worked a professional set for the next 1 hour and 15 minutes. Among the songs he performed were More Justice, Still Searching and capping his performance with Welcome To Jamrock, the title track from his Grammy Award winning album.

Earlier in the evening the gathering saw performances from Tara Harrison, Earl Klugh and Heads of State.

There was also a final award presentation which was given to Maxi Priest for making a difference to Jamaica's music. The singer in accepting his award said: "We've come a long way, but still have a long way to go."

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Gong closes jazz festival