It became clear, however, from the initial strains of the National Anthem performed by Paulette Bellamy and Jon Williams, that the programme would put the delay out of mind and live up to its billing.

Although all of the artistes on the bill delivered, special credit should go to the aforementioned duo, who not only provided sterling support for all the singers, but also showed their mastery and versatility as a duo, alternating on piano and violin as well as keyboards, breezing through classical, Jamaican folk, pop and blues at various intervals without showing anything but the greatest pleasure in playing their music. Bellamy, in particular, was in fine form, tastefully but spiritedly adding flourishes to her solos and combining well with all who graced the stage.

The "newbie" of the group, Michael Harris, showed that his respective tenures at ASHE and the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston were well spent. He used a supple, adaptive, if somewhat breathy tenor and a natural rapport and sense of humour in service of a refreshing, well-considered programme (typical of the evening's offerings) that included Anthem, a selection from the musical Chess (conceived and initially presented by the two male members of former Swedish super-group ABBA), Bui-Doi, from another hit musical, Miss Saigon, and hit his first artistic peak of the night with stirring renditions of the Josh Groban selections You Raise Me Up and You're Still You.

Harris would return in even better nick, this time joining with the ever-radiant Velia Espeut, on a suite of classic love songs including My One and Only You. This, after Espeut had thrilled the audience on her own with her namesake song Velia (The Witch of the Wood) from The Merry Widow.

No sooner had his partner exited the stage, however, than Harris used the opportunity to get cheeky, ripping through Gershwin's bluesy A Woman Is A Sometime Thing and enlisting the audience's support on With A Little Luck.

Karen Smith is arguably the gold standard among Jamaican cabaret artists; one cannot recall any performance by her over her long career that was less than superb, and this was no exception. In addition to the aforementioned I'll Wait For You, she poured her manifold inflections into How Glad I Am (a Nancy Wilson classic) Bobby Worth's Don't You Know (first recorded by Della Reese) and a rendition of the Frank Sinatra chestnut That's Life that would no doubt have wowed even the Chairman of the Board for its combination of whimsy and wistfulness.

The mood shifted just slightly in the second half, with a jazz trio joining the indefatigable Williams and Bellamy. James "Billy" Kerr on keyboard, medic Cyril Fletcher on guitar and Rotarian Gilly Bellamy on alto went melodiously, if unadventurously, through a number of jazz standards, with Errol Garner's Misty being the standout.

Great hosts, whether in music or cuisine, routinely save the best for last, and a delightful night's entertainment was capped by all the singers taking the stage, first for stylised renditions of Summertime and then, for the finale, a rousing version of Andrae Crouch's Oh Happy Day.

The first such venture by the Rotarians of New Kingston, the Evening of Excellent Music was by all measures a success.

Pictures of the event