Melba Moore hosts good party at Studio 38

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

Melba Moore's short shorts - though not derriere hugging - and fishnets created a stir when she hit the stage at Studio 38, Trafalgar Road, New Kingston, on Friday night. As well they should; she was born in the year World War 2 ended.

If the odd bedfellows of age and outfit were not jarring enough, Moore came after Ashley Martin, whose apparently lissome frame was poured into a flaming yellow dress, her glutes rising to meet the ends of her hair extensions.

However, it was testimony to Moore's all-round sass that the outfit's impact soon became peripheral to her performance to recorded tracks.

And she may have alluded to her outfit and the youthful attitude it represented when, before singing, Moore said: "I think you like old school? Before I start I want to tell you, everything old ain't bad."

Appreciative audience

The audience cheered, and Moore, who was as much host as she was singer on Friday night, was off and running. She did not flag until close to the end, when missing music (the required CDs were in the hotel room) almost stopped the concert in its tracks. However, she recovered to close on a high, and quite wisely, declined Pulse boss Kingsley Cooper's entreaty for an encore.

Moore started out with something new, the ballad, Love Is, closing on one of her famed long notes. But the full house, though not uncomfortably crowded, while impressed with the drippy love number, had come to dance - and Moore really started the party with Love Coming At Ya. She tugged some people at the front to their feet, the rest rose and for a few minutes Moore performed in the crowd.

The momentum of Love Coming at Ya was enough to keep the standers skanking through the lesser known This is It, which Moore said was her first hit. The high heels went in short order and Moore, back on the stage, sat down in a chair borrowed from an audience member.

From this vantage point, fishnet-clad legs crossed, she played hostess, doing bits of songs from artistes she had dealt with through her Hush Productions. Freddie Jackson's Rock Me Tonight (For Old Time's Sake) hitting the spot right away. Aint No Stopping Us Now got the Studio 38 people back on their feet; Evelyn Champagne King's Love Come Down kept them there.

And Moore, who is famed for holding long notes, actually announced one before she did it - then asked the audience members if they wanted more.

Naturally, she got a resounding yes and hit her jam Mind Up Tonight to stand up-and-dance effect - then came the gaffe with the music where Moore could have become less.

Still, she persevered through the awkward break, encouraging handclaps coming at the end of My Guy, even though there was not much obvious enthusiasm during the uptempo track. Moore found back the high to close with Other Side of the Rainbow.

In the earlier going, Martin, with the Curfew Band, was in good nick, sticking to tried and proven favourites from Marcia Griffiths, Tina Turner and Alison Hinds, closing with uptempo gospel.