Perhaps it was the change in seating arrangement that affected Sunday’s Jazz in the Gardens at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston. But, whatever the reason, the bi-monthly musical fare didn’t quite have the verve for which it is known.

Thanks, however, to keyboardist Robbie Lyn and seasoned musicians on the bandstand — the inimitable Dean Fraser on sax, the incomparable Desi Jones on drums and trumpeter Everol Wray — the stint that put the lid on Black History Month, was saved. As the late jazz maestro Sonny Bradshaw was wont to remind us, “Jazz is Black Music.”

Robbie Lyn’s delightfully entertaining set could be interpreted as a celebration of the black music tradition. In going through his paces, he would often evoke the memory of some iconic players of instruments, such as the incredible Jackie Mittoo, whose cherished works he skillfully polished and rendered with consummate ease. On Back at the Chicken Shack, the calm, unassuming stalwart of the keyboard, with his virtuoso improvisation technique also rekindled reflections of the grand master of the organ, Jimmy Smith.

His take on My Cherie Amor, the Stevie Wonder 1969 smash from the album of the same name, was flawless. And so too were Autumn Sound, Today More Than Yesterday and It’s Impossible.

The closing performer, promising female vocalist, Keisha Patterson, was saved mainly because of her glowing personality, than her vocal prowess. It wasn’t one of her better nights. With a repertoire that borrowed mostly from the song books of Billie Holiday and Cole Porter, she didn’t really sing the blues in its usual bewitching style with harmonic structure.

Her performance of Night and Day, Day In Day Out, Girl From Ipanema was nothing out of the ordinary, but had some redeeming moments on God Bless the Child That Got His Own and to a lesser extent, when she ended appropriately on a note of optimism, Our Day Will Come.

Another young rising talented singer, Diana Rutherford, made her debut appearance at Jazz In The Gardens as show opening act and had patrons whispering approvingly long after her performance of Gladys Knight’s The Way We Were.