Dec. 30 at the Jackpot Music Hall |
LAWRENCE | Miles Bonny doesn t look much like the typical DJ/rapper/producer/funk-soul brother. At first glance he looks like he just popped into his favorite bar after an all-day deer hunt or turkey shoot.
(The camouflage ball cap has something to do with that). But when he gets on stage, Bonny shows who he really is and what his considerable gifts are: as a singer, an MC and a music alchemist; a guy who blends hip-hop, R B, funk, smooth jazz and soul into original songs that sound both classic and contemporary.
Saturday night Bonny threw another party for Smell Smoke?
the CD he just released, and he brought along some well-known and talented friends to help him celebrate: the rapper Approach and his sidekick, DJ Sku, who opened the show with brief but explosive set; and DJ Joc Max (who delivered a short tribute to James Brown) and MC/vocalist Smoov Confusion, who accompanied Bonny during his headlining set.
Bonny s music is ideal for fans who want something substantive from their hip-hop something like melody, groove, atmosphere and lyrics that show way more humor, sincerity, sarcasm and wit than stock bravado and lame charade. Much of his set included several of the best cuts from Smoke, including Stampede and the short but demonstrative I Need a Drink, in which he and his mates requested a little self-medication.
No one up front redeemed their request, at least not right away not because Bonny and friends didn t deserve one, but because no one wanted to leave the scene and miss a word or a beat.
Dec. 28 at the VooDoo Lounge |
I m not an avid electric-blues fan.
I spent too many nights at the Grand Emporium listening to too many faux/wannabe/copy-cat bands/guitar-slingers going through the motions and delivering all the cliches to think that somebody out there is going to come up with something that doesn t sound like anything better than recycled, stone-washed Stevie Ray Vaughan.
But after James Brown died so unexpectedly on Christmas Day, I figured it might be a good idea to swing by the VooDoo Lounge last week and see/hear Buddy Guy.
The one and only time I saw Brown live was in September at the VooDoo in the nick of time, in other words.
Guy turned 70 in July, and he doesn t look like he s going anywhere soon except on to his next gig: At the VooDoo he performed in a royal blue warm-up suit and running shoes, as if he d just jogged over from the hotel spa.
But you never know.
You can t really compare Guy to Brown, but Buddy s resume is long and impressive and studded with the names of stars and legends.
Thursday night he paid his respects, explicitly, to his elders and contemporaries: Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Howlin Wolf, John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, Otis Rush.
Implicitly, he also recognized those who drew inspiration and ideas from his way of turning the plugged-in blues into music for a younger crowd (Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix etc.).
At the end of Hoochie Coochie Man, he and his band ripped into some serious hard-rock/scuzz blues that sounded like the difference between Sonic Youth and the White Stripes.
And after listening to Guy wail and moan about the glory of the blues (and the pain of a broken heart), it s fair to give him and his music credit for birthing something even more contemporary (but more disposable) than classic rock: Emo is the young people s blues.
Guy s show lasted about 80 minutes, and most if it was entertaining.
The music wasn t perfect; some of it was loud, fast and sloppy. But he is still an engaging entertainer. His set list included several standard hits and covers: Five Long Years, Hoochie Coochie Man, Honey Bee, Damn Right I ve Got the Blues.
My favorite part came late in the show, when he left the stage and walked through the seats in front of the stage and then wandered with a guitar and microphone through one of the bar areas, stopping to sip a drink (and serve up a few bars of Kansas City ). As he made his way through the fawning, sellout crowd, he smiled and accommodated the flashes from digital cameras and cell phones that popped in his face. All the while he smiled big, like he hadn t seen the blues in a while.
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