JAMAICA’S first lady of jazz, Myrna Hague, launched the 2013 edition of her Simply Myrna concert and her fifth album Tuesday at Four Seasons Hotel, St Andrew.

The fourth year of Simply Myrna will have two shows. The first will take place at Courtleigh Auditorium in Kingston on March 9, with the second at Mandeville Golf View Hotel on March 16.

Like last year, Hague will be joined by London-based Jamaican singer Jimmy James of the Vagabonds fame, the Carifolk Singers and the Desi Jones Band.

Hague’s latest album, Best of Simply Myrna Live, was recorded from the two previous shows. The album and an EP titled Honey, feature live and recorded versions of singer/songwriter Bob Andy’s hit song of the same name.

Hague paid tribute to the modest turnout and to her husband, bandleader Sonny Bradshaw, who died in 2010.

“If it weren’t for you, especially my musical colleagues, my church brothers and sisters, I wouldn’t have a career. So the first thing I’m going to say, thank you for making it comfortable for me to have the career that I have,” she said.

“As you know, my partner passed away two years ago. And it was always Sonny and Myrna, Sonny and Myrna, Sonny and Myrna. So when he passed away… not knowing what to do with myself, my manager/producer Mr Len Crooks said to me if I was to go on with my career, I will have to re-establish my name.”

Hague’s career began in the mid-1960s in Britain as a theatre actress. She eventually became a jazz stylist, working the European club circuit. She is the recipient of several awards from organisations such as the Jamaica Federation of Musicians and the Caribbean Broadcasting Union.