Jazzy tribute to Ella

THE MOOD was relaxed, the atmosphere intimate, and the singing and musical selections on point.

The event Wednesday night, part of the Honey Jazz Barbados Festival, was a tribute to the woman dubbed the First Lady of Song, popular American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, who died in 1996.

Opening the show at Hilton Barbados, the KC Quartet set the tone for the evening before songstress Betty Payne took the stage with soothing, yet stirring vocals.

Like the other artistes who would follow, she was happy to pay tribute to Fitzgerald, performing Cheek To Cheek and Can’t Take That Away From Me.

Opening with the signature song of the evening, A Tisket, A Tasket, special guest Kellie Cadogan commanded the attention of the audience from the time she belted her first notes to when she brought the curtains down on the first half of the show.

“This year Ella would have been 100 years old and it’s a nice time to reflect and share her music – music I would have studied for a long time and to know how she has impacted on my life,” she told the audience.

“This evening is very special for me and I want to take you on a journey of Ella’s music and a bit of my interpretation of her music.”

Betty Payne gave a strong opening performance.

And she did.

Her selections, How High The Moon, Summertime and Sunshine Of Your Love, had the combined audience of locals and visitors tapping their feet and bobbing their heads.

When the second segment opened, the song Blue Skies, performed by Nicovia, was quite apt, given the cloudless skies under which the show was held and relatively cool evening.

Then, Kellie returned, performing Sunny, Hey Jude, Cry Me A River, All Of Me/Smash Up before rounding off her performance much like she started it – with A Tisket, A Tasket. (WILLCOMM)