IN FULL FLIGHT! Beres Hammond leaps off the stage during his mesmerising performance last Thursday night at the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in MoBay. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

It was a tacitly acknowledged fact long before penultimate act India.Arie explicitly stated it: Thursday's opening night of the Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival was Beres Hammond's to lose.

Arie, receiving audience accolades for her own stirring performance, told the roughly 5000-strong crowd at the Cinnamon Hill Golf resort, "I know I have to make way for the king." The king did not disappoint, even with an inauspicious start featuring nondescript performances from members of his Harmony House entourage. Amid temperatures that had many patrons huddled under blankets, ponchos and any other available source of warmth, Hammond ignited a lover's rock flame from the opening strains of Step Aside.

India.Arie displaying her many talents - playing the guitar, singing, and playing the flute at the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in Montego Bay on Thursday night. (Photos: Joseph Wellington)

From there, he appeared to be on cruise control, reeling off hits from the early 90s to the present, and there was the nagging concern that a good night's finale would degenerate into a mere hit parade. But the veteran showed that years of nearly incessant performing had broadened his perspective and he switched gears by reaching into the US R&B/soul catalogue of the 70s, doing inestimable justice to such classics as Marvin Gaye's Let's Get it On and Al Green's How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?

The dual piece de resistance followed when Beres invited old friend Marcia Griffiths on stage for an all-too brief stint.

An expressive Nancy Wilson is deep in song at the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival.

After a little sincere if light-hearted banter, the pair launched into their hit ballad Live On and then like a pixie out of a fable, Marcia was gone. Her successor took the set to its unquestionable high point. Only recently recovered from a heart attack, Maxi Priest glided on to the Cinnamon Hill stage and delivered an absolutely pristine rendition of Cat Stevens' Wild World, (which Priest successfully covered). He then teamed up with his host for How Can You Ease The Pain? having given all that could have been asked of him, it was only left for Beres to seal the morning with Can't Stop A Man.

The evening had started on a high-energy note with local aggregation Mile High justifying their inclusion on the main stage. Fronted by Tessanne Chin, the band brought its typical "all-or-nothing mindset" to a pulse-quickening suite of covers with an original put in for good measure. They opened with Kevin Lyttle's soca-dancehall hit Turn Me On , but the high point was a scintillating reading of Credence Clearwater Revival's Proud Mary, done in the vein of Tina Turner, followed by their Bob Marley homage, a guitar-drenched version of Could You Be Loved. In between there was the bluesy shuffle of Allanah Myles' Black Velvet and an original Sunset.

Guitarist Maurice Gordon expectedly lowered the decibel level, giving a good account from his growing catalogue. Particularly enjoyable were the title track from his Jamaican Flora CD and a sly mid-tempo ditty titled Call Me Sometime.

Jamaican saxophone giant Dean Fraser followed and showed great range and more signs of his increasing adroitness at engaging audiences. As he has done in previous appearances, he turned Paul Simon's Diamonds on the Soul of her Shoes into an audience sing-along, challenging sections of the crowd to repeat selected vocal hooks. Fraser has long made Bob Marley's Redemption Song his own personal instrumental statement and Thursday night was no less emphatic, rendering the calls for encore almost anti-climactic.

Despite a catalogue that spans over 70 albums, Jamaican awareness of Nancy Wilson is still largely confined to the hits How Glad I Am and Guess Who I Saw Today. Cool, confident and elegant as ever in a black-and-white ensemble, she did them both and more, turning the Jazz & Blues stage into an open-air cabaret.

Decked in a flowing, African-accented tangerine dress and without the dreadlocks that marked her Grammy Awards era, India.Arie made friends, won hearts and overcame sound difficulties in an intriguing and eclectic set that included an ode to sister island St Lucia (based on her experience performing at that island's jazz fest), and sassy readings of Sade's Sweetest Taboo and the Neptunes' chart-topper Frontin (the latter she used to address her relationship with fellow neo-soul crooner Musiq). She too engaged the audience in a sing-along on the affirmative Strength, Courage and Wisdom and, honouring the Bob Marley tribute trend, strummed and sang her own reading of Redemption Song before exiting. On her return, she capped the night with a heartfelt version of the song many came to hear her perform, the haunting ballad I Am Ready For Love.

The production scored good marks, especially for the stage and lighting, which truly could have graced any venue throughout the world. Band changes were generally of an acceptable duration, and despite the inhibitions induced by the cold, the atmosphere was consistent with that of jazz festivals past. Indeed, organisers, producers and patrons unanimously voiced their satisfaction with the first night's proceedings, with the feeling that it augurs well for succeeding nights and the strong line-ups slated throughout.

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