By Karu F. Daniels, Blackvoices.com



Jill Scott bared her heart and soul as one of the main attractions of "The 2008 Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival" on Friday night at Montego Bay's Acquaduct Rose Hall.

And the crowd couldn't get enough of the North Philadelphia-reared neo-soul high priestess during her 100-minute set.

Looking lovely and sounding sublime, the star of Tyler Perry's recent hit movie 'Why Did I Get Married?' cast a spell on the super-sized audience who seemed to cling onto every word she sang.

Unlike the night before, where Anita Baker sang older material, Scott kicked it into high gear with much aural pleasure from her latest opus 'The Real Thing.'

Opening up with 'Let it Be,' the hefty-voiced powerhouse hit the stage wearing a cheetah print top accentuated with black leggings. Her newer, short afro brought a great natural essence to her appearance and her warm aura seemed to be enveloped by festival-goers. Scott dug right in with the thumping title track from the new album, which made everyone take notice that she was not there to play games. Other new songs that kept the crowd pumping included 'Crown Royal,' 'Epiphany,' 'How Would You Feel,' and her latest anthem 'Hate on Me.'

A poet at heart, Scott debut 'And I Heard,' a hybrid of neo-soul and gospel. The crowd ate it up.

Die hard fans relished her abbreviated version of 'He Loves Me' (from her 2000 breakthrough 'Who is Jill Scott?') and the beloved groove of 'A Long Walk.'

She launched into the uplifting 'Golden' before leaving the stage to return with her encore, the lyrical masterpiece 'The Rain.'

"I have to say that I didn't expect what I got," Scott shared backstage after the show. "What I got was really respectful," she said of interacting witht he Jamaican crowd -- her first time performing at the Festival.

"I thought Jamaica [was] going to be rowdy; people were going to be talking and drinking and carrying on and having their own moment – which is fine because I've done shows like that before but this was different," she said, adding, "everybody ... was listening to what I was saying and responding in a way that felt 'we're here right now together.' Especially with music that they haven't heard before, it was really, really nice. It felt good. I'll be back."