THE GIRL was on fire.
Nikita Browne flew the local flag high when she opened on the second night of Naniki Jazz Safari at the Sea Rocks Dome, Barbados Beach Club, Maxwell, Christ Church, on Friday night.
Dressed in a flowing halter dress, Nikita serenaded her audience with one of her originals and several covers, including lover’s rock.
In her rich voice, which carries a tremendous range, the songbird kept patrons glued to every lyric that fell ever so melodically from her lips and her every movement.
It was a big moment for Nikita and the entire Leacock family, some of whom were very conspicuous in the first two rows of the centre aisle. Her aunt, Carlyn, got a special plug for being the one who got her started on the singing track as a back-up in her formative years.
Starting off with Roberta Flack’s Feel Like Making Love, Nikita gracefully slipped in her original Rising and followed with several other tracks, including At Last, Rolling In The Deep, Through The Fire (dedicated to Carlyn) and I’ll Be Loving You Always.
It was in I’ll Be Loving You Always that the audience realized that Nikita’s earlier claim that everyone in the family could sing, was no idle boast.
That penultimate number saw her brother, Jabari, and cousins Jamie Leacock, Shem Goddard and Kade Young Dia Mascoll of St Leonard’s Boys’ Choir and Junior Monarch fame, harmonizing on background vocals. Her uncle James, who sings with Promise, teamed up with her for the duet.
The six-member group did the family proud, and the standing ovation from members of the audience was well deserved.
She got a second ovation when she wrapped up the set in fine style. She was backed by C4, which features Stefan Walcott on keys, Richard “Bill” Evans on bass, Andre Forde on pan, Lowrey Worrell on drums, and guest saxophonist from London, Shabaka Hutchings.
C4 is an act by itself. They put patrons in the mood with a couple selections before Nikita took to the stage.
Nikita was apparently a hit with the musicians as well. She paved the way for the Craig Haynes Quartet, and one of the first things the drummer did when he spoke to the audience was to ask them to give her another round of applause.
Haynes and his crew of Chelsea Barrett on tenor sax, guitarist Solomon Hicks and Greg Lewis on keys, carried on the quality music from the first half and had members of the audience bursting out in regular applause, giving encouraging shouts and grooving to the instrumental vibes in their seats.
A special treat came in the form of Muddy Waters, sung by Hicks and Sugar by Barrett. The band’s selections also included Everywhere Calypso, Fungi Mama, What’s Going On, Nica’s Dream, The Breeze and I Mean You.