IT was the second night of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues festival and the expectations were high. On Thursday’s opening night, crooner Babyface had truly set a very high bar and the question on everyone’s mind was, who would top his performance.

Friday night showcased The Queen Project featuring Tamia, Kelly Price and Deborah Cox, who delivered the first real spark of the night. The three divas — stars in their own right — quenched musical thirst with hits from their impressive catalogue. Kelly proved her star power, delivering Take It To The Head and her #1 R&B hit Friend of Mine which involved the crowd substituting vocals for R Kelly and Ronald Isley who were included on the remixed version of the song. Tamia was on point with her spine-chilling rendition of Stranger In My House while Deborah created mayhem with Nobody’s Suppose To Be Here and We Can’t Be Friends which had the entire park glued to her every word.

Reigning soca king Machel Montano, who disclosed in the media tent that he will miss this year’s Road March competition in Trinidad, came with his A game. The talented artiste proved once again that he is indeed the entertainment ambassador of the Caribbean with another spirited performance that was lapped up by the younger patrons, who came prepared to jam till the break of dawn. The T&T-born Machel engaged fans with Unconditional Love, Don’t You Leave Me — dedicated to Haiti which was devastated by an earthquake —

Higher Than High, Dance With You and Down The Road. A few patrons complained about It’s Carnival which some felt was not appropriate for the occasion. This aside, most waved flags and danced up a storm until his glittering, highenergy performance came to an end.

The tempo was taken all the way down, but not the entertainment value, with the entry of the next act — Queen of Neo-soul, Erykah Badu. This was Badu’s second appearance on the festival, having first performed back in 1997, when the festival was held at the beautiful Rose Hall Great House, and she was heavily pregnant with her first child. Wearing black latex leggings, grey leather jacket and a black top hat, she delivered total Baduizm. The hits from her debut album were still popular with the jazz fest audience who rocked and sang along to On & On, Other Side of the Game, Apple Tree, Next Lifetime and Sometimes. The other tracks to capture the audience included Didn’t Cha Know and a rendition of Marley’s No More Trouble, before closing with Soldier from her latest project, New Amerykah Part One (4th World War). Badu, however, somewhat disappointed her Jamaican audience, as despite their repeated calls for her hit song, Tyrone, this track was not to be part of her set this time round.

Something just didn’t seem to be working for closing act Billy Ocean he didn’t make that connection at first. But as he continued going through the paces and drew for more wellloved songs such as Colour of Love, Mystery Lady and Get Outa My Dreams the crowd warmed to his performance. By the time he was through he had truly won them over.