Patrons at this year’s edition of Laughter & Jazz had a time as they filled up on uplifting music and bellyfuls of laughter that worked to ease the stresses of the week away.
Held under clear skies Friday night at Savvy On the Bay in Bay Street, the seaside location added to the relaxing atmosphere and the winds kept patrons cool at the event which is a staple on the annual Barbados Gospelfest’s calendar.
Before the official 8 p.m. start, DJ Godson had the place rocking with his selection of popular tunes in various genres that put patrons in a praise mood and reminded them of the mighty God they serve.
Equally engaging was MC Pastor Lennox Boyce, who provided useful tips on the benefits of laughter, while encouraging patrons in between the acts of mainly young performers who stood in the spotlight this year, to laugh more often.
From Kendra Leacock, who opened the show with the song A New Beginning which was well received, to Jeliah Boyce, who closed it, the line of young performers did not disappoint. They brought soulfulness and depth to the event that belied their age.
Singer Jane Small’s performance was simply dynamic.
Accompanied by the band Music and the Word, she jazzed up some familiar gospel songs and hymns such as How Great Thou Art, Blessed Assurance, The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power and Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow making them sound new and refreshing. She put her soul into each song, added a jazzy spin to them befitting the event and probably gained some new fans based on the robust applause.
Following her performance, DJ Godson played another set before 19-year-old spoken word artiste from St Vincent, Jaydealea Chambers, came on for her first performance outside the country. Speaking to “the church” as a collective and not a specific denomination, she was powerful, riveting and commanded the audience’s attention with her piece titled To The Church in which she called out hypocrisy among Christians, saying: “Can we stop living this bare minimum level of Christianity? Can we stop polluting our bodies with this judging nature that the world seems to think we have, and they are totally right?|Can we stop speaking in tongues in the morning and then getting drunk at night?”.
Chambers, who urged Christians
to acknowledge God’s word, act as He called on them to do as written in the Bible and simply do better, told the Sunday Sun she has been performing for two and a half years after starting on August 1. While performing at Gospelfest in St Vincent, held from March to April, she was invited to perform in Barbados.
In the second half of the show there was “clean, fresh” wholesome no-expletive comedy featuring comedian Akintunde. He was very engaging and had the audience in fits of laughter throughout his set as he segued from topic to topic regaling them with true stories.
40-minute routine During his 40-minute routine, he recounted real life and personal situations he found himself and advised men to quickly admit to their spouses when they’re wrong and save themselves some trouble.
He also shared how he came to finally join the baldheaded dudes group after wearing a man weave and the “black stuff”, how he views life now he’s in his 50s and gave generational jokes that resonated. He also touched on the antics of Barbadian van drivers.
Amazing Grace, His Eye Is On the Sparrow and an original song titled You Take The Broken And Make It Beautiful were the pieces emerging singer Jeliah Boyce performed to an appreciative audience.
Accompanied by a band of talented musicians (they also played a song without Jeliah singing), the show’s final performer, not only shared her voice but two personal stories (one was about how she came to write her original song after her godmother died last year and the other was from her parents’ early days of marriage) to encourage individuals to cling to God and pray fervently when they were experiencing a tough time.
Last night, Gospelfest continued with Ultimate Gospel at Kensington Oval and climaxes today with One Awesome Day at Farley Hill. (GBM)
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