Mindi Abair - Contributed

Adolphe Sax would be pleased - Mindi Abair blows a mean saxophone. She alternates between alto sax and soprano sax but (it seems) she just blows away her audiences every time she performs.

No doubt about it, Abair's got 'saxability'.

Last Wednesday, at the Sunset Jamaica Grande in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, she performed for an hour and left her audience mesmerised after an amazing performance which earned her a standing ovation.

The only thing that came close to the scintillating performance of the blonde, Florida native on the sax was her sweet, soulful voice (yes she sings, too!) and the awesome performance of her producer, Matthew Hager, on guitar, her only accompaniment on the night.

Abair's performance is like a double attack. Depending on the song, she might hit you first with her mastery of the wind instrument, then with her amazingly beautiful voice, or vice versa.

Not having heard about her before, one wouldn't know what to expect.

But, if she didn't grab you with her sultry manipulation of the saxophone or her class performance, her superb vocal styling would blow you away.

Little wonder the singer, songwriter and saxophonist debuted at number one on the Billboard contemporary jazz chart with her Life Less Ordinary CD in 2006.

Dressed in close-fitting blue jeans and gold coloured sleeveless blouse, she performed tracks from that album, tracks from her latest, Stars (2008), her fifth album, among others, bringing back memories of other great saxophonists, who stuck to alto and soprano sax, such as Julian 'Cannonball' Adderly and others.

The daughter of a saxophonist and backing musician for the likes of Backstreet Boys and Mandy Moore, Abair is well equipped to be a star in her own right and that she definitely is.

It's hard to say which she does better, sax or vocals. She seemed to prefer sax.

"If I had to choose ... I can scream on a saxophone and do things I can't do with my voice. You can get crazy on a saxophone, where your voice, it has limitations," she told The Sunday Gleaner.

Abair was part of a week-long live radio broadcast from Sunset Jamaica Grande by WLDB 93.3 FM from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

She actually began the new year in Jamaica, having arrived December 31 for an 11-day visit.

"I came to Jamaica before on a cruise and loved it so much I decided I had to come back for a long stay," she revealed.

During her performance, she could not help but laud Ocho Rios' latest attraction, Mystic Mountain, which she said she really enjoyed during her visit.

"You have to go," she told the audience.

The package was organised in collaboration with the Jamaica Tourist Board and Sunset Resorts.