Vocalist Pam Hall for ‘Bring Back the Love 2’

Accomplished singer Pam Hall takes the stage at the Courtleigh Auditorium for Bring Back the Love 2 on Saturday, March 4, bringing not only her terrific vocal abilities, but that indescribable ease and connection with an audience and a versatility honed over many years in a variety of musical settings.

Hall will share the bill with Desi Jones and his All-Star Band, Fab 5, and guitar virtuoso Ernie Ranglin, all of whom she has worked with on prior occasions. Hall, in fact, had collaborated with Ranglin on Testament, a project which, true to its title, reaffirmed her impeccable jazz vocal credentials. Her expansive repertoire also takes in reggae, pop and world beat.

Hall had her beginnings in the traditional school and church arenas, before making her official entry into the professional world of music after finishing college at the then College of Arts, Science and Technology. As a recording artiste, Pam joined forces with a co-worker, Orville Wood, and together they formed the duo Pam and Woody, which went on to become Jamaica’s first award-winning duo for the song, Book of Life.

Realising Pam’s versatility, many producers and fellow musicians strongly encouraged her to do more solo recordings, which enabled her to showcase other genres of music. This resulted in her amassing a number of hits, both locally and internationally. Even as she grew as a solo artiste, the demand for her harmony work in the studio was much bigger, extending outside of the recording studios to tours with select groups worldwide. These included Toots and the Maytals, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Third World, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh, Melody Makers, Wailers, I Three, and many others.

Among the international acts with whom she has shared the world stage are Betty Wright, Tina Turner, Fugees, Aretha Franklin, Denise Williams, Ben E. King, Manhattans, Lucky Dube, The Stylistics, The Chi-Lites, Kool and The Gang, Stevie Wonder and Queen Latifa.

Wishing to spread her musical wings, she embarked on a solo career which spawned such perennial favourites as I Was Born a Woman (from the soundtrack to Children of Babylon), Perfidia, Dear Boopsie, I’ll Always Love You, Never Can Say Goodbye, You Are Not Alone, What Yu Gon Do, among others.

Her vocal prowess has earned Hall several musical awards, including the Jamaica Federation of Musicians Jazz Vocalist of the Year award several times. As a jazz performer, she was regularly featured on the BET Jazz channel. Pam has held executive positions in some of Jamaica’s music organisations, owns her own publishing company, produces, arranges and writes. But most treasured to her is the help she gives to other musicians, young and old. Pam has also been involved in stage and screen acting.

In the 1990s, Hall filled in for Judy Mowatt in the I -Three, joining the group in the decade that followed.

Bring Back the Love 2 is under the patronage of former Prime Minister of Jamaica PJ Patterson. The LDC Productions event starts at 8 p.m., with cocktails at 7 p.m.

Part proceeds from the event will benefit the McCamm Child Care Development Centre, which caters to children between the ages of six months to six years with a range of special needs through its nursery and preschool programmes.