POP REVIEWS : REGGAE PRIESTESS

Reggae singer Judy Mowatt may not come off as a mystic shaman like the late Bob Marley, her one-time boss, but Friday at the Music Machine she proved capable of considerable magic. The crowd had grown increasingly testy over the long delay before Mowatt finally appeared after midnight, but it took the small Jamaican woman virtually no time to turn the troubled waters into a smiling, dancing mass.

With her serene countenance and sweet, soulful voice, Mowatt (introduced as “the high priestess of reggae”) was a captivating and spirited performer as she delivered her testaments of Rastafarian faith and sister/brotherhood.

The show was not a sectarian affair, though, as the messages were universal and the music extended beyond reggae’s boundaries. Backed by the San Francisco-based group Vision and two female singers, Mowatt was equally commanding with material ranging from soul to dub styles. In fact, “Working Wonders,” the title song of the her Grammy-nominated album, would not be at all out of place on so-called adult or black urban radio.