Opener Ayers, who turns 65 next month, managed to have funky hits in the 1970s on the least funky of instruments, the vibraphone. Legend holds that Ayers got his first set of mallets when he was of grammar school age -- a gift from vibes godfather Lionel Hampton. But among this audience, Ayers was best remembered for his contributions to dance music. Before playing a medley that included his 1977 disco hit, "Running Away," Ayers told the crowd that he "was playing smooth jazz before they called it smooth jazz." Ayers could have also correctly boasted that rappers have made him the most sampled vibes player of all time, and, given how his ilk is disappearing, among the last important vibesmen of any genre.
-- Dave McKenna
Big & Rich, Brooks & Dunn
The giant inflatable bull-riding dolls didn't stand a chance with Big & Rich competing for attention Saturday night. Neither did the act ostensibly topping the lineup at Nissan Pavilion, country duo Brooks & Dunn, along with the Warren Brothers. And did we mention the flavor of the moment, "hick-hop" artist Cowboy Troy?
With generous pyrotechnics and their vertically challenged, crazy-costumed sidekick, Two-Foot Fred, helping out, hot Musik Mafia performers Big & Rich backed up their reputations as the bad boys of country. Naughty hits "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)" and "Kick My [Butt]" were among the highlights of their hour-long set, which, despite the act's claimed genre, felt resolutely rock-and-roll. (At least until Cowboy Troy joined them onstage for a raucous version of his first single, "I Play Chicken With the Train," a piece of Southern-fried hip-hop whose fresh, energetic sound stole the show.)
Next to Big & Rich's bluster, Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn's bland 90-minute set seemed the country equivalent of easy listening. The duo performed their mid-tempo honky-tonks and wan ballads, including hits "Boot Scootin' Boogie" and "Neon Moon," with little fanfare and even less movement, seemingly as bored with their music as the thinning Nissan crowd. "I used to have a wild side . . . that's all changed now," Dunn sang on "Brand New Man." Disappointing, but apparently true.
-- Tricia Olszewski
Kiran Ahluwalia
Indian-born Canadian singer Kiran Ahluwalia's performance Saturday at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage was about halfway traditional. That wasn't because the set was divided 50-50 between upbeat Punjabi folk songs and plaintive ghazals , ballads of longing from a millennium-old tradition. Ahluwalia and her three-man backing troupe revamped both styles, notably by interjecting Rez Abbasi's Latin-jazz guitar solos into the customary union of chattering tabla, droning harmonium and keening voice.
As usually performed in Iran, India and Pakistan, ghazals are venerable classics, sung exclusively by men. Living in Toronto, Ahluwalia doesn't heed such strictures. She began composing her own melodies for contemporary verse written in Urdu and Punjabi by Canadian poets of South Asian descent. As revealed by Ahluwalia's new self-titled album (her U.S. debut), the results are austerely lovely.
In concert, however, the folk tunes were more satisfying. Their rollicking melodies, close relations to Bollywood movie tunes, absorbed Abbasi's flashy guitar more readily than the ghazals did. They also suited Ahluwalia's stage manner, which was outgoing and exuberant. She explained what the Punjabi lyrics were about -- young women who want love or jewelry, mostly -- and led a simple but effective singalong on "Koka," a plea for a gold nose ring.
While ballads such as "Yeh Nahin" provided the best showcase for Ahluwalia's gliding soprano, such sprightly tunes as "Meri Gori Gori" (an appeal for yellow bangles) blended all four musicians more completely.
-- Mark Jenkins
