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MUSIC
Robert Randolph & the Family Band kept hips shaking at the 9:30 club; Randolph's sister Lenesha also joined in. Right, soprano Tatiana Pavlovskaya, who sang with the National Philharmonic.
(By Ben Watts)
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-- Steve Kiviat
Robert Randoph & The Family Band
Half an hour after Robert Randolph & the Family Band started playing at the 9:30 club on Friday night, nearly three dozen young women took the stage as the group performed "Shake Your Hips." The female fans made up a serpentine, undulating mass, shimmying as Randolph sat placidly in the center, strumming his sacred steel guitar.
Granted, it was not the coed topless dance party that had erupted on the same stage Thursday night during the Brazilian Girls' set. After all, this was a family affair.
As the name suggests, Randolph -- an Orange, N.J., native who grew up playing pedal steel guitar in his home town's Pentecostal House of God Church -- performs with his cousins Danyel Morgan on bass and Marcus Randolph on drums, while his little sister Lenesha provides backing vocals. (Keyboard player Jason Crosby rounds out the group.) Known for exuberant live performances, Randolph and his crew lived up to their raucous reputation with a two-hour set that incorporated elements of funk, go-go and even country music.
Many tunes on the band's recent album, "Colorblind" -- including the love song "Diane" and "Deliver Me" -- sound better in concert than on CD. When Lenesha Randolph sang out, "Do you want to be delivered?" the crowd responded with a roar. Few songs exemplify Randolph's musical flexibility more than "Ain't Nothing Wrong With That," the catchiest number on "Colorblind" and the tune he selected for his encore. "Whether it's rock-and-roll or old soul (it don't matter) /Disco, calypso (it don't matter) /Suit and tie or tie-dye (it don't matter) /Snakeskin or Timberlands (it don't matter)," he sang. And the audience, having gotten what it came for, cheered yet again.
-- Juliet Eilperin
