In an artistically and commercially fallow period for reggae music, very few acts among the form's many factions are finding much traction. The Jamaican-based sound continues to struggle to find a fruitful niche in music's mainstream. Three distinct approaches to reggae were represented Tuesday at Crossroads KC.
Toots and the Maytals, the evening's headliners, are among reggae's original practitioners. The band is fronted by vocalist and songwriter Toots Hibbert, who was introduced as "the man who gave the world reggae." 77 Jefferson, a fine Kansas City-based band, played the role of reverent revivalists. Kamikaze Kush, a band from Illinois, emphasized the music's tangential relationship with marijuana. (A fourth act performed earlier in the evening.)
Hibbert, 65, reprised several of his vastly influential hits from the '60s and '70s in a rewarding 90-minute performance. Hibbert fist-bumped fans as he sang "Time Tough," pogoed ecstatically during "Sweet and Dandy" and displayed James Brown-style moves as he danced to "Funky Kingston." Although keyboards served as a poor substitute for a horn section, a solid five-piece band and two additional vocalists often sounded more like Brown's Famous Flames than a reggae act.
The gloriously soulful soundreflected Hibbert's role in reggae's creation. Over 40 years ago he blended R&B with the sounds of his homeland. A fiery reading of "Reggae Got Soul" emphasized the point. Testifying like a Jamaican version of Wilson Pickett or Otis Redding, Hibbert demonstrated that his gruff voice has retained much of his power.
Perhaps in part due to the duration of the heat-infused five-hour event, many in the audience of approximately 400 were seemingly unimpressed. The sound of indifferent chatter occasionally filled the venue.
"Listen," Hibbert gently chided distracted fans. "Be present."
77 Jefferson met the same challenge admirably. The band's silky update of the "lovers rock" sound associated with '70s-era Gregory Isaacs won the audience over. Heavily influenced by more contemporary rock acts that employ a reggae lilt, Kamikaze Kush's frequent references to marijuana elicited shouts of approval from pockets of fans. The tactic has previously worked for bands including Sublime and Slightly Stoopid, but Kamikaze Kush's single-minded approach is significantly less appealing.
Each of Tuesday's acts boasted vocal partisans. The concert made it clear, however, that as long as veterans like Toots and the Maytals remain vital, reggae's most compelling sounds continue to be made by its original voices.
| Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star
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