Della Manley has endured serious challenges since sustaining injuries in a motor accident last March in Montego Bay, but she smiled throughout a fund-raising show in her honour last Thursday at 22 Jerk in St Andrew.

The music community turned out in numbers at the popular venue to support the singer/musician who first came to prominence in 1997 with Ashes On The Window Sill, a well-received folk album produced by guitarist Ray Hitchins.

Rosina Moder of Music Unites Jamaica Foundation, organisers of the event, said it “went extremely well”, raising over $200,000 which will assist with Manley’s medical bills.

She told the Jamaica Observer that there was a buzz when the guest of honour arrived with her daughters Rhea and Maya, and husband Joseph Manley.

“That was the most special part of the evening…” Moder said.

Moder, her husband Peter Ashbourne and their son Jeremy, Shawn Richards, Marjorie Whylie, Boris Gardiner, Janine Jkuhl, Andre “Spyda” Dennis, Charmaine Limonious, DiMario McDowell, Mutabaruka, Sandra Morgan Crawford, the Black Zebra Band, Earth and The Fullness, Bongo Herman, Olivia Wilmot, Bijean Gale, Vania Colours, and Emily Elliott were the artistes who performed.

Ashes On The Window Sill, which includes songs such as City Lights and Bittersweet, earned rave reviews when released almost 30 years ago. Among those giving in the thumbs up was Timothy White, editor of Billboard magazine.

Barbican Square, Manley’s second album, was released in 2007. She collaborated with Mutabaruka on the song I Know, and with guitarist Earl “Chinna” Smith on a cover of Fade Away, originally done by Junior Byles.

— Howard Campbell