I've had enough. See, I might have had a few comments about Diane Reeves' performance on Saturday night, but a complete lack of communication between the promoters and the people at the gate resulted in me having to wait nearly forty minutes to get in.

Now the first two nights were alright, I didn't even feel the need to mention the problems I had on Thursday night at all, but to be held up at the gate on the final day of a festival which I've covered over two of the last three days is downright ridiculous.

Especially when my article about Thursday night was featured in Saturday's paper!

Long story short, I'm not impressed with the organisers of the 2002 Bermuda Jazz Festival, and have therefore decided to stop being so nice - no more Mr. Nice Guy (I've always wanted to say that).

Press access needs to be better, period; because even if you organisers don't respect the print press, a lot of the artists that you bring in to perform thrive on it.

And if you don't know how to deal with us, please learn, otherwise this island will never develop into the international entertainment force it has every right to be.

Nowhere else in the world do critics wait forty minutes to get into an event. Bermuda is a part of the WORLD people; let's get serious shall we?

So that's why I missed the Diane Reeves show. I sincerely hope her publicist wasn't counting on seeing a review, because all I saw while she was on were little pink ticket booths and clueless gate workers.

When I finally did get through the gate it was 7.30 p.m., but I still expected to catch a bit of Diane's set. Nope, all I saw was a dark stage and a huge crowd lulling around waiting for something to happen.

Nothing did happen for another forty minutes though.

That's when Cousin Juicy emerged from stage left and greeted us with; "What say we get it on?" - ah, ya think? But all the irritations were forgiven some time around 8.15 p.m., when India.Arie entered our realm at long last.

She came out alone at first, just her and her guitar opened the set. Her stage presence was impressive from the start, and her long, flowing white gown (which, we later found out, was made by her mother) was simply gorgeous.

She went though her tribute piece ("In Rememberance"), which she merged into a shimmering verse of Sam Cooke's classic "A Change Is Gonna Come".

Before long the huge crowd was shouting "We love you India," to which she coolly replied: "I love ya'll too."

Once the band joined her on stage, she got right into some of her new material; that is, material that will be featured on her new album, "Voyage To India", which is set to drop on the 24th of September.

The new songs were as smooth and soulful as any she's ever recorded, and she expressed quite a bit of excitement about them. "Beautiful Sunrise", "He Is The Truth" and "Headed In The Right Direction" all brought oohs and aahs from the audience, but the cream of the new material crop had to be the marvellous "Good Man".

India.Arie exuded a very warm kind of confidence on stage.

She was casual and intimate without being tacky or crass, and everything she did, she made us feel a part of; from the numerous times she checked with us while attempting to correct technical problems, to the time when she knocked over the mic stand while gliding around the stage and told us: "Don't tell nobody I knocked the mic stand over."

She was breezy, self-assured and decidedly magnetic.

"I See God In You", "Nature" and the beautiful "Strength, Courage & Wisdom" gave us familiar melodies to close our eyes and sway to, but the party didn't start until the familiar chords of the smash hit "Video" emanated from the speakers. The crowd absolutely loved this performance, and when India.Arie walked off waving to us after the song was done, the ovation was spontaneous and explosive! I was a bit disappointed that she didn't sing the stunning "Brown Skin" or my personal favourite "Your Always On My Mind", but hey, the crowd didn't seem to mind that her set was somewhat succinct, so who am I to complain?

The changeover was another forty minutes (noticing a pattern yet?), so when George Duke hit the stage at sometime around twenty to ten, the crowd was very much ready to receive him. George opened with a jam called "Whoa-oh-oh-oh", which went a long way towards curing our changeover induced atrophy. The party was on! See, George Duke was simply captivating right throughout his eighty minute set, and the love he sent to us was received, reflected, multiplied by the thousands, and sent right back up to him.

Highlights included the seductive "Anticipation", the steamy "Brazilian Love Affair", quick renditions of Herbie Hancock's "One Finger Snap" and Cannonball Adderly's "Mercy" and that time when he said "I love it when you call me big papa" and caused quite a stir with the female audience members. Charisma isn't a big enough word to describe what this man had on stage that night. I mean he was utterly glowing with poise and exuberance.

He joked, laughed, teased, flexed, dramatised, broke down and cried (in jest) and thoroughly, thoroughly entertained. And this was all before he dropped the all-time classics like the magnificent "On the Wings of Love", the desperate "Stay With Me Tonight" (both of which he recorded with the venerable Jeffrey Osbourne) and the breathtaking "No Rhyme & No Reason" (it gets no more timeless that that!) - Simply essential pieces.

Then came the funk! This was the portion of the show when the band took over. The instrumentalists played like Armageddon was coming tomorrow, and the entire crowd stood and cheered them on like a horse their entire life savings was on. Dave Kochanski ripped his keys to bits, Mark Simmons beat the drums like Ali beat Forman, Paul Jackson Jr. produced guitar riffs that resonated to the heavens, but the real standout was Michael Manson, whose Bass screamed for mercy - he had none. Wow.

The only thing George could do to get his front spot back was drape his keyboard-guitar over his shoulder and take a leisurely stroll through the highly energised crowd. This man is a master showman people - no doubt! The funk closed the Jazz Fest in on a surprisingly high note, and even though my patience ran very thin earlier in the evening, I could, once again, not deny the quality of the acts.

This year's line-up was by far the best feature of the Bermuda Jazz Festival. The advertising campaign paid off quite a bit as well, because there was certainly a large contingent of American Jazz lovers walking amongst the very large crowd on Saturday night (as well as Thursday night).

Now if they'd just get their press etiquette together, the organisers might have something. More food stalls might be a good idea too; I heard complaints that people had to wait as much as an hour in line to get served at one particular stall. And please, whatever you do, make sure the Mini Donut people are involved, they are a highlight of the experience wherever they go.