A feast to behold
THERE is never a shortage of talent in Jamaica.
This was highlighted at Sunday’s staging of A Feast of Music, the fund-raising event staged by the Meadowbrook United Church, at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston.
The programme’s headliner was soprano Ana Strachan, but it was performances by two lesser-known acts that confirmed Jamaica’s talent pool is ever expanding.
The first of these performers was eight-year-old violinist Eleanor Hind. Her mastery of Hungarian Dance, with the flicking of her lustrous sandy mane, made her a treat to watch as well as listen.
She switched genres to pop on the popular Greatest Love of All, arranged by Paulette Bellamy, who accompanied her on piano. It is little wonder why Ellie, as she prefers to be called, was recently the highest rated in the Florida Federation Music Clubs competition.
The treat was far from over as 18-year-old Alex Lawson also thrilled the capacity ballroom.
Lawson is a self-taught pianist, and has only taken up formal studies over the past 18 months. But listening to his delivery of Schubert’s Erlkonig, one would never have guessed.
Performing without sheet music, Lawson demonstrated his talent. His dexterity and agility on the ivories are reminiscent of a seasoned virtuoso.
Strachan pleased her audience with a presentation which ranged from classical to spirituals and show tunes. While she was at home with the classics, her voice and range seemed ill-paired with the spirituals, Oh What a Beautiful City, On Dat Great Day and No Dark Inna Zion. The Rastafari and Revival influences and sensibilities, especially on the latter, seemed lost when paired with her vocal styling.
However, Strachan redeemed herself with the show tunes and demonstrated a playful and comedic side with her final song, Can’t Stop Talking About Him, from the 1950s musical Let’s Dance.
Singer Orville ‘Bagga’ Case of Home T fame did three selections — Heavenly Father, Sea of Love and Al Jarreau’s We’re in This Love Together. He preceded the final performer, cabaret act Judi Emmanuel.
Her four tracks, Fly Me to The Moon, The Impossible Dream, Bridge Over Troubled Waters and Somewhere, showcased her range and talent. Her take on Bridge Over Troubled Waters was especially poignant and the audience responded with rapturous applause.
Emmanuel and Strachan combined for the finale, the epic Exodus Song.
