PERFORMING ARTS

Monday, August 25, 2008

'Still Black, Still Proud'

Saturday night's concert "Still Black, Still Proud: The African Tribute to James Brown" at the 9:30 club successfully paid homage to the Godfather of Soul even though more than half of the program should have been labeled an "American jazzy-funk tribute to James Brown." Saxophone player Pee Wee Ellis and trombonist Fred Wesley, who both played with and helped with arrangements for the legendary singer, put together a large band that was billed as featuring Senegalese singer and multi-instrumentalist Cheikh Lô and Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré. However, Lô and Touré spent less time onstage than the ensemble's talented but little-known white and black American musicians who, with the aid of a Senegalese percussionist, powered straightforward renditions of Brown songs before a small but appreciative crowd.

After the show opened with a pair of Soul Brother No. 1 instrumentals, longtime Brown backing vocalist Martha High joined in, belting his 1958 single "Try Me," in a gospel-rooted manner aided by a warm sax solo from Ellis. Lô then rendered his own "Bambay Gueej," Brown-style, playing sharp-edged rhythm guitar notes alongside the bassist's deep tones as the horn section popped in and out with brassy interjections. While Touré never got much of a chance to show his skills, Lô seized his time in the spotlight. He soulfully wailed "It's a Man's Man's Man's World," in English and his native Wolof, and added insistent, rat-a-tat Senegalese percussion to other cuts.

The group finished with "Cold Sweat" and "Say It Loud -- I'm Black and I'm Proud," both groove-filled late-1960s Brown classics composed with Ellis. While singer Fred Ross could not quite grunt like Brown, he nicely handled the more direct, church-derived verses. On "Say It Loud," Lô and Touré delivered on the promise of the show's title, chanting in their homeland tongues as the drums thumped and the horns boomed.

-- Steve Kiviat

En Vogue

It seems that the four original members of En Vogue -- Terry Ellis, Cindy Herron-Braggs, Maxine Jones and Dawn Robinson -- are reuniting. The Funky Divas sang at the BET Awards in June and have said that they will record a new album and also perform some dates around the country together. Unfortunately, the En Vogue show at the Birchmere on Friday was not one of those dates.

Present were Ellis, Herron-Braggs, Jones and . . . Rhona Bennett, who joined the group in 2003, in just one of the membership shake-ups kicked off by Robinson's departure in 1997.

Despite the absence of both Robinson and a live band (the women sang over recorded instrumental tracks), as well as the presence of an outrageously long cover medley and too many songs from 2004's "Soul Flower," the women did an able job of presenting the music of the '90s girl group.

Whether it was "You Don't Have to Worry" and "Hold On" from the quartet's 1990 debut "Born to Sing," or "Free Your Mind" and "Giving Him Something He Can Feel" from 1992's "Funky Divas," the four-part harmonies created enough of a party atmosphere to coax folks out of their seats to dance.

Although the night wasn't exactly the triumphant return of En Vogue that many had expected, there were four women onstage and they did a fine job of singing the group's greatest hits, so there really wasn't reason to complain -- much.

-- Sarah Godfrey

Low End String Quartet

Composer Jonathan Matis is very upfront about his aims for the Low End String Quartet: He intends to rock. On his blog and during interviews, he talks about shaking up classical music mores and bending genres. Saturday night, the Hyattsville resident packed up his ambitions and amplifiers and headed for Velvet Lounge.

Word on U Street is that the tiny club, the size of a junior one-bedroom, is where you'd go hear a friend of a friend play post-punk electronic noise. So Matis has accomplished his goal of bringing classically trained musicians to an unusual venue. As a composer, he has work to do. The key to writing minimalist chamber music, as the Low End Quartet is best summed up stylistically, is convincing listeners that the reason you keep repeating the same four chords is not because those are the only four you know. Too often, the Low End failed to pass this basic test. The orchestration -- for Matis on electric guitar, plus amplified upright bass, violin and cello -- is mostly dull and meandering. (It was also way too loud.) And its a shame, because there were moments, in "Rondo" and "Shut Up and Listen," when Matis used looping and layers of sound to create music that was more complex and engaging.

It's worth remembering that minimalism, as a sonic movement, was conceived in California clubs and galleries, not concert halls. The composer John Adams, in his forthcoming memoir, confesses that the first piece he ever wrote for the Kronos Quartet "crashed and burned" 30 years ago in Santa Cruz. He then massively reworked the piece and came up with his classic chamber work, "Shaker Loops." All this to say, the Low End Quartet is charting venerable territory. Matis and his friends just have to remember that it's the music that breaks boundaries, not the musicians.

--Rebecca J. Ritzel