Delighted by their support, Beres Hammond performs to his appreciative fans. - Winston Sill

I was not around for the annual shows centred around the late Dennis Brown. At least I should say that I was around, but did not attend any of them.

However, from what I have heard and read about those concerts, the closest that I have come to seeing anything of the sort was on Sunday night at Beres Hammond's 'A Moment In Time'. For those who had their doubts that $3,500 presold and $4,000 at the gate for regular seating and $5,500 presold and $6,000 for a spot closer to the stage would test the pockets of the public, the sold-out affair should put that to rest.

People paid for quality and that they certainly got (although I think those who paid for VIP did not get the best viewpoint, as the raised arena-style seating was perfect for seeing all angles of the raised stage in the centre of the National Indoor Sports Centre, as the performers went around).

What was crucial to Beres 'corking' the venue, though (remember, his guests were not advertised, so it was Beres people came to see; everybody else was brawta), is his appeal across the divide that is often created between different eras and genres of Jamaican music.

So on Sunday I saw youngsters who would have grown up hearing One Dance rocking dancehalls in the retro section, as well as people who would have been pretty young when One Step Ahead was fresh off the press. And I saw people who will one day have Rockaway as a musical landmark in their lives.

Beres Hammond's early R&B songs are well into the vintage category (after all, they were made three decades ago), but his combinations with Buju Banton, beginning in the early 1990s, are the stuff of dancehall legend.

And that is the key to his universal appeal. Beres Hammond has not remained stuck in the 'best' era or rejected dancehall (he does not, though, jump on to the mass production rhythms). He has maintained his standard, while at the same time not disdaining what has come after him. And with the blend of orchestra and reggae that he had on Sunday night, he fused the musical roots that have grounded his music.

And in all of this he has maintained a friendly public persona, all making for a combination that resulted in the sold-out 'Moment'.

Those who seem more interested in criticising that which has come after them musically than showing the way by maintaining their standards and involving themselves with the musical youths would do well to take note.