ON a night when all the stars shone brightly, on the opening night, Friday, of the 2002 Black Entertainment Television (BET)-sponsored Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in Montego Bay, it was lovers rock maestro, hometown boy Beres Hammond, whose star shone brightest. His was a masterful performance.

Right from the first notes were struck up by his Harmony House backing aggregation to the last shout “Montego Bay, we love you!”, Hammond had every single one of the estimated 3,000 persons in the venue on their feet, rocking and screaming as he unleashed a barrage of his hits, spanning about an hour-and-a-half.

Before the Harmony House and VP Records recording artiste took the stage, his seven-piece band gave a superb rendition of Dennis Brown’s immortal The Promised Land. Then his two back-up singers, Dorrette “Dwisdom” Wisdom and Nicky Tucker added their voices to the mix, which was by then brewing nicely.

They walked on stage singing the opening bars of I Shall Be Released, then segued into Rita Marley’s One Draw, to We’ll Fight For The Right To Be Free and Marcia Griffith’s Everywhere. It was a two-part harmony — Wisdom’s lovely contralto combining well with Tucker’s sweet soprano.

This was just the appetiser.

The expectant crowd, which had for the most part reclined comfortably on the lush green of the Wyndham Rose Hall Hotel’s Three Palms golf course, was, to a man, by then standing expectantly. Then with a broad smile and dressed in his de rigueur hat and comfortable large shirt, Hammond walked on stage, to a roar from the audience.

It has been some time since the singer has graced a local stage and the extended time on stage was welcomed by his legion of fans, who were in full voice. As was he, and, in his characteristic, whiskey-soaked tenor, he prowled through hits from his early days as well as some of his more recent work. He kicked off with What You Gonna Do to Stop A Man From Trying and then strolled into Step Aside, during which the late Crown Prince of Reggae was again saluted when he swung into Should I.

By the time the band struck up What One Dance Can Do, the party was in full swing, with the crowd singing along, as the sweet Studio One rhythm echoed off the rolling hills of the picturesque, scenic golf course, a splendid venue for an event of this sort.

Declaring that “We’re dealing with love here tonight”, to which, at his command the audience responded “Hell, yes!”, it was into She Loves Me Now, Now I’m Falling In Love All Over Again (with himself and Dwisdom filling in for Bounty Killer), a near a capella, intense Double Trouble, Putting Up Resistance, then the electrifying Can You Play Some More, featuring some superb brass licks from the trio of Dean Fraser (saxophone), Chico Chin (trumpet) and Nambo Robinson (trombone) and a wicked bass riff, Come Back Home, Tempted To Touch and Hit On Every Corner.

Hammond declared that he was just warming up! Slowing down the pace, he went into the groovy No Disturb Sign, that had the BET cameraman close to the stage shaking his head in amazement. This was followed by Love Means Never To Say That You’re Sorry.

It was then time again to step up the pace, which he did with They Gonna Talk, one of the hits from his Grammy-nominated Music Is Life album. He crowned his set with the runaway hit Rock Away and the message-in-the-music Ain’t It Good To Know.

After over an hour-and-a-half, the crowd was left wanting more and it was a sated audience that streamed out of the venue, at about 2:00 am Saturday morning.

Hammond’s was the closing act of a line-up that featured, ahead of him, in order, Karen Smith, Yolanda Adams and Angelique Kidjo. It was a night that featured a high order of musicianship, which kicked off with local girl Karen Smith, who gave a splendid performance.

Supported by a seasoned combo of top sidemen, including husband Jackie Jackson on bass, Maurice Gordon (lead guitar), fiery drummer Desi Jones and Marjorie Whylie on keyboards, Smith, a Montegonian, sang her way through On A Wonderful Day, Simple Life, Night and Day, Fever, How Glad I Am, Someone To Watch Over Me and All Of Me. All this, to a great reception before her home crowd.

Yolanda Adams gave an inspiring — and inspired — performance. The American gospel singer, who has built up quite a local following, was relaxed and comfortable as she went through some of her hits. Backed by three back-up singers — two female and one male — and a six-piece band, and displaying superb control of her soaring, warm mezzo-soprano, the schoolteacher-turned-gospel-artiste dished out mostly R&B-laced, up tempo gospel music.

Introducing each hit with a little exhortation, Adams went through an adapted I Believe I Can Fly, It’s Okay, Let Your Praise Go Out, a soulful, prayerful, very melodic With A Fragile Heart, The Battle and Talk To Me. Gracefully handling a few problems that cropped up with her microphone, she also allowed her classy back-up singers to display their own considerable talents.

Towards the end of her performance, she took a couple of requests from the audience, and sang a few lines of You’re My Little Darling Girl, apparently a lullaby composed for her daughter.

She ended her set and left the audience rocking with the funky Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. Though not predominantly a gospel-oriented audience, she got a good reception.

The pride of Benin, West Africa, Angelique Kidjo has perhaps established credentials to become an honorary Jamaican, following her performance.

The ancestral linkage between Africa and its Diaspora in Jamaica, especially music, was very apparent in her presentation. Kidjo’s music reflects a blend of various types ranging from afro-funk, reggae, samba, salsa, gospel, jazz, Zairian rumba, souk and makossa, which combined to create her soulful unique sound.

Benin is a former French colony and Kidjo sings in a variety of local languages, which include Fon, Yoruba, Mina, Bariba and Dendi, as well as French.

The rhythmic, percussive music was played by a band which draws its membership from all points of the compass, including Barbados, Brazil, New Zealand, Guinea-Bissau and New York. It struck a responsive note with the audience, which danced and grooved along, captivated by her strong vocals, her warmth and her dancing ability as she demonstrated African dance moves. A highpoint of her performance came when she invited persons from the audience up on stage to dance with her. A group of about two dozen, including UWI lecturer Dr Carolyn Cooper, joined her and they had a ball jamming with the world beat music star.

Declaring that she loves hugs, Kidjo hugged each one before they left the stage.

And when she discovered that one of the group was celebrating her birthday, it was time for an impromptu rendition of Happy Birthday.

Though not well known in Jamaica previously, except by persons who used to watch the now defunct Caribbean Satellite Network (CSN), she undoubtedly now has a fan base here.

All told, it was a great way to start this year’s jazz festival, back after a break of two years. On Saturday the line-up included R&B singers Babyface and Carl Thomas, 1950s and 60s blues meister Bobby “Blue” Bland and Jamaican born jazz pianist Monty Alexander. On Sunday it will be the turn of Cuban son outfit Classico Del Sol, American gospel icon BeBe Winans, R&B singer Stephanie Mills and folk music maestro Harry Belafonte.