For the Reckord | Mikey Bennett's talented friends perform at the BOJ

Today being the final Friday of the month, the free monthly Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) lunch-hour concert - featuring drama, dance or music - would normally be on. Instead, it was held a week earlier as a musical show, Mikey Bennett and Friends in concert.

Bennett is a music producer who is renowned for recognising and developing talented young people. From the BOJ stage, he introduced the group of musicians he assembled as gifted performers worthy of being hired for "musical events of just about any kind". The audience agreed with Bennett's assessment, giving an enthusiastic applause during and at the end of the show.

OUTSTANDING SINGERS

The first three singers were outstanding with strong, flexible voices and entertaining styles. First up was Mckada, a student at the University of Technology, who sang the romantic You Look Like Love with poignancy then changed moods with a driving, reggae-rhythmatic delivery of You Don't Love Me.

She was followed by Nicketa Steer, who started with the upbeat I'll Survive, encouraging the audience to join in singing the chorus, then moved to the slower Because You Loved Me. She went bouncy again with Skanking Sweet, with some in the audience dancing to that last number.

Indie Allen showed his versatility by playing a guitar along with singing. His items included Night Nurse and (Everything I Do) I Do It For You. Another multitalented performer, keyboardist Koriq, left his instrument to demonstrate his singing prowess. What he showed was that he is a better player than singer - perhaps because he has been playing for more than 20 years but only singing for three.

The last singer, who is really a singjay, was Tomo J, a young man with a spiky hairstyle and an engaging stage personality. Much of his performance time was spent on the floor of the auditorium, and while he sang You Sheltered Me From Harm, he danced with a woman who had come to listen. Two of his songs were the amusing I'm a Paper Chaser (about love for money), and Mary Jane (about love for ganja).

After the show, Koriq, the most experienced of the performers, explained that he started playing the piano at age seven, and by nine, he was playing in church. Soon after, he began arranging harmonies for the choir, yet he only got his first formal piano lesson at 13.

After high school and two years of community college, he went to the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts' School of Music. There, he enrolled in the Caribbean, Latin America and Jazz programme, with a minor in choral singing.

While at the college, he started playing for many gospel artistes, including The Grace Thrillers, Junior Tucker, Carlene Davis, and Chevelle Franklin. He has also played for Sean Paul, Bushman, and Shaggy, among many others.

"I'm the keyboard player on Tesanne Chin's Hideaway," he said, "and I've been working with Tarrus Riley for the past 10 years." Three to four years ago, he decided to focus more on his own compositions and has already produced his first album.

He was full of praise for Bennett, calling him one of the most encouraging people in the music industry. "If he sees an iota of talent in you, he makes it his duty to develop it as much as possible.

"He's responsible for me being here at the BOJ as a singer. He has watched me grow. I met him when I was 19 years old, just finding my way in the world as a musician. He's very highly regarded in music circles," he said.

Correction: In last week's column (September 21), I attributed the statement "Miss Lou a de maddah fi patwah" to Oku Onuora. It is actually from the Yasus Afari poem Patois Talking.