Playing the right keys

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Alicia Keys basked in the spotlight all by herself as she set the Garfield Sobers Auditorium in a frenzy at the 12th Annual Barbados Jazz Festival last Friday evening.{{more}}

Keys delivered a classy set that showed why she is so revered internationally. There is something rather special about her voice. The earthiness is quite obvious, yet there is an almost jazz-like flavour to it. The sold-out audience simply had the pleasure of sampling one of pop music’s finest voices.

Keys showed the universality of music when she launched into a soulful rendition of A Woman’s Worth, switching musical moods with consummate ease.

Her music, with its soothing flavour, would reflect in one moment a tinge of somnolence, and within seconds one would be carried away on a wave of excitement found in selections such as If I Ain’t Got You, Fallin’, and You Don’t Know My Name, among others.