At the end of his performance on night 3 Saturday it was a standing ovation for the artiste who delivered all his expected favourites and more.
‘Everyone Plays the Fool’, ‘Don’t Know Much’ and ‘Don’t Go’ were among the top tracks dropped on loyal fans, some responding with wild screams.
Aaron Neville hooked the audience immediately after he was introduced onstage, with a medley including the Drifters’ Stand by Me, and Sam Cooke’s ‘Cupid’ and ‘Chain Gang’.
But Neville did not stick to one genre of music and evoked frantic screams as he ventured into reggae music with renditions of Bob Marley’s ‘Three little Birds’ and ‘Stir it Up’.
He was equally impressive delivering gospel selections including, ‘Study War No More’, ‘Lay down my Burden’, ‘When the Saint s Go Marching’, and ‘Amazing Grace’.
Veteran country and western crooner Crystal Gayle took Jazz & Blues patrons down memory lane on night 3 of the music festival Saturday at the Trelawny Multi-purpose stadium.
During her lively performance, the seasoned artiste, who disclosed that this is her first trip to Jamaica, had her local fans singing word-for-word to all time favourites such as ‘Talking In Your Sleep’, ‘Long and lasting Love’,‘Those were the Days’ and ‘Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue’.
The country/pop star sporting her trade-mark nearly floor-length hair, interacted freely with her appreciative audience throughout her entertaining set.
Chaka Khan rocked the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium with a lively set filled with mega-hits from her 40-year career.
Taking to the stage at 11:10 pm, the svelte artiste delivered all the songs which have made her famous and earned obvious appreciation, participation and applause from what was the largest audience of the three-night festival.
‘I Feel for You’ opened her set and ‘I’m Every Woman’ was the closing note. In between Chaka Khan kept the tempo with ‘What You Gonna Do for Me’, ‘Sweet Thing’, ‘My Funny Valentine’ and ‘Through the Fire’.
In the end the legendary American singer/songwriter left the Jazz and Blues stage with the audience begging for more.
A light drizzle close to the end of the set did not dampen the mood at the Trelawny Multi-purpose stadium in Jamaica Sunday morning as the O’Jays rained down hits from the 1960s and 70s in the penultimate act of the Jazz and Blues Festival 2014.
Dressed in full white, the trio rocked the stage and had their audience singing and dancing to the group’s impressive catalogue that goes back some 40 years.
With their slick choreography they delivered R&B staples ‘Back Stabbers’, ‘I love Music’, ‘Love Train’, ‘Used to Be My Girl’, ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and more for the large audience inside the venue.
In the end the persistent squalls sent patrons scampering for shelter with local act Beres Hammond left to close night 3 and the festival.
Source-Jamaica Observer
