The Naniki Caribbean Jazz Safari has played its last notes for this season in Barbados and the last two days took jazz enthusiasts down memory lane with pieces and sets that brought loud applause and standing ovations.
On Monday, the legacy of incomparable jazz pianist Oscar Peterson was revived, as the Oscar Peterson Legacy Band revisited some of his best known work for an intimate crowd of foot-tapping enthusiasts.
One of the musician’s seven children, Celine Peterson, began the evening with personal glimpses of her late father who died in 2007 and the rollercoaster ride of having a privileged childhood.
Living up to the legacy of Peterson certainly was a huge task, but Niels Lan Doky of Denmark represented him well, as did drummer Terry Clarke and bassist Dave Young in numbers like Nigerian Marketplace, Bags’ Groove and Backyard Blues. The poignant Hymn To Freedom was perhaps one of the more memorable pieces on the night, earning the full appreciation of fans at the Sea Rocks Dome.
Kellylee Evans channelled the energy of Nina Simone in her hour-long set, which also featured tracks from her first signed album, I Remember When. The barefoot diva kicked off with My Name Is and continued with other tracks from her body of work which contained strong influences of hip hop. Evans capped the night with her version of Eminem’s Lose Yourself.
Sauntering into Tuesday and the all-Barbadian cast brought the curtain down on Errol Barrow Day at the Naniki Amphitheatre, St Joseph. The amphitheatre, set within the wooded and rural district of Surinam, cuts at 45 degree angle creating a slope between the fans and stage which is at the base. The environment can be demanding on jazz musicians who prefer intimacy with their audience; therefore one has to be on top of their game in order to connect.
Trumpeter Ricky Brathwaite, showing no evident impediments, immediately bridged that gulf with his jazzy, bluesy and entertaining out-of-range stylings.
He also regaled the enraptured audience with a number of tracks from his third solo CD entitled City Life.
The Ricky Brathwaite Quintet featured guitarist Michael Cheeseman, drummer David Burnett, pannist Andre Forde and bassist Ricky Williams. There was a lot of chemistry between the five. Cheeseman gave excellent support with his fret work. Burnett’s speed, variety and timing make him one of the better drummers in Barbados. Forde sat well within the unit and his runs on the pan were greeted with deserving applause. Williams kept a steady bass right through.
The Rhea Drakes Quintet was the opening act.
Drakes, a lawyer by profession, is an enterprising pianist who brings lots of musical experience to the stage. It was not an easy task connecting with the audience initially but they soon caught on to her eclectic piano where innovation and rhythmic fusions with a Caribbean bias are hallmarks.
She was supported by the smooth sound of saxophonist Nicholas Timothy, accomplished bassist Neil Newton, promising drummer Rafael Hinds and expressive percussionist James Lovell.
Drakes is no newbie to stage as her bio says her “debut concert” was in the land of her birth St Lucia under the patronage of Governor General Dame Pearlette Louisy.
She was also “one of the winners of the Caribbean Court of Justice song competition where she performed the winning song at the court’s inauguration ceremony in Trinidad and Tobago”.
Alison Hinds of the Queen of Soca fame, backed by the 1688 Nonet Kaiso Jazz Fusion Band, was the closing act on the evening.
The transition of Hinds to Hinds the jazz singer is incomplete. As they caution in showbiz, try to avoid being stereotyped.
Her attempts to freshen some of her soca hits with a smattering of jazz riffs pointed more to the fact that lots more work has to be done, if she is to seen as Alison the jazz singer. But the audience loved Hinds’ effort.
And that was what mattered. (LW/JS)
