Mary Isaacs

In the later stages and in the second outfit of her concert at Redbones the Blues Café last Friday night, Mary Isaacs pointed out that the Braemar Avenue, New Kingston, restaurant is a special place.

She said that when she returned to Jamaica eight years ago and a friend drove her around the city to check out potential performance spots, Evon Williams of Redbones was the only person who gave her a listening ear and she made her debut there.

And, in lockstep with the excellent Pon Fyah Band (Paul Madden on bass guitar, Ozou`ne on keyboards, Neison Hardy on drums), Isaacs put on a concert worthy of a homecoming before a fair-sized and enthusiastic audience, covering popular songs which focused gusto and going through a range of genres.

The chemistry between Isaacs, who chose a sparkling silver dress for the first segment of the concert, and Pon Fyah was evident, the transitions between songs on the whole seamless and the between song patter kept to a minimum. And while Isaacs did not display a ear and eye-popping vocal range, she was more than simply competent and chose her material well, fluent hand movement and expressive face as much a part of songs as her voice.

Dance up and down

So after holding a long 'me' at the end of Unchained Melody, Isaacs moved easily into Summertime, the audience appreciating Isaacs' sustaining of a note on 'stay', modulating her tone to dance up and down the scale.

Isaacs outlined the genres slated for the night, including "reggae - not dancehall - that's another night, another venue". There was no pause between the R&B pair of Gonna Take a Miracle and Natural Woman; Hello was done jazz style, blending into reggae as Isaacs rocked and did not sing, then it was back to jazz and lyrics again.

The audience applauded as Easy Like Sunday Morning began and Isaacs pointed out that Power 106FM plays Power of Love "everytime". Again, a reggae element was introduced and the song tested the limits of Isaacs' upper register, which she dealt with competently.

And, she closed the song on a very long note, arms spread as if to embrace all present.

Then Isaacs pushed her voice low at the beginning and end of the first segment's closing song, A House Is Not a Home.

Pon Fyah called the talkers and wanderers back to order with a playful Mary Had a Little Lamb and Buffalo Soldier before Isaacs hit the stage with gold and red blowing, a filmy scarf around her neck - for a while, as she soon tossed it coquettishly into the lap of a gentleman in the front row.

It was lady power time as the concert was on again with a blast and I Will Survive, the house jumping as the beat hit, Isaacs kicking out a leg as she emphasised 'go!'.

The uptempo beats continued, 'yard' style, with Feel Like Jumping, the band giving it once, twice and more times Toots Hibbert-style to very good effect.

A cooling down was required, At Last doing the job well and Isaacs then chortling My Baby Just Cares For Me.

And, as the concert headed to the closing stages, Isaacs gave her jazzed-up interpretation of Redemption Song, the audience at her Redbones homecoming concert seemingly happy with the results.

Mary Isaacs glows during the second half of her show at Redbones the Blues Café, New Kingston, last Friday night.

Mary Isaacs (right) takes a twirl with Winston 'Merritone' Blake. - Photos by Mel Cooke