Getting right into the mood

Alcantara showed her versatility in handling contemporary jazz standards, R&B and Caribbean classics with ease as Michael “Ming” Low Chew Tung and Friends provided the appropriate backing music.

She kicked off her set with Anita Baker’s “Sweet Love” followed by Roberta Flack’s “Feel Like Making Love” and Randy Crawford’s “One Day I’ll Fly Away”. By then the audience was completely mesmerised with Alcantara’s vocals.

Sitting in the audience were Caribbean Queen of Jazz Mavis John and her manager Margaret Gittens, Patti Rogers and dramatic soprano Anne Fridal. A further span of the audience revealed another jazz singer Vaughnette Bigford.

“Silent Tears and Roses” came next followed by “Don’t Make Me Over”. It was just on 9.35 pm when “Ming” ran his fingers over the keys to produce the music of the Theme from Mahogany (“Do You Know Where You’re Going To”) as sung by Diana Ross. The entire audience became the chorus and Kaiso Blues was pumping.

Based on the songs she performed, Alcantara described the session as one of “Sweet and Sour” as she also did “I Love a Man” and “I Know You Know”.

She up the tempo with the Rick James written, arranged and produce 1983 hit for the Mary Jane Girls, “All Night Long” and the audience was loving it. This heated performance was followed by another winner this one Rufus and Shaka Khan’s “Sweet Thing”.

Both the musicians and singer needed some time to “chill” after that sultry version.

In the second half of the show Alcantara performed songs like “Why Worry”, “Falsa Biano” and “Mas Que Nada”. Each musician on stage had an opportunity to “show off ” during “Mas Que Nada” and they did not disappoint. The high point of the night came when “Ming” started “From Now On”, a Carl and Carol Jacobs hit which they both performed.

But after the first verse a voice from the background chimed in and Alcantara realised that she was sharing the stage with the man himself Carl Jacobs.

Jacobs did not come into the spotlight but performed from behind the mixing board where he was serving as sound engineer for the night.

It was a rare treat for the audience as Jacobs no longer performs live.

Alcantara told the audience she was “humbled by the historic occasion.” The show continued with “Someone Loves You” followed by the Merchant and Ray Holman classic “Oh Trinidad” after which the singer began her credits and thank you speech.

She ended the night with Ella Andall’s “My Spirit is Music” and had the audience asking for one more.

The musicians behind this excellent concert performance which really put the audience in the mood were Rodney Alexander (bass), Richard Joseph (drums), Tony Paul (sax and flute) and Ming (keyboards).