The Radar Screen
August 15, 2003
by Alexander Washburn

There, I said it... Hats off to the downtown River-to-River Festival 2003 which is bringing live music for free to Battery Park. To kick off the festivities earlier this summer – the Godfather of Soul James Brown – with an opening act of Brooklyn’s own Antibalas. The unseasonably cold and rainy night didn’t prevent hundreds from turning out. What we suffered through was a James Brown greatest hits show and a lame one at that. He could at least invest in a decent saxophone player. His backup singers, the Bittersweets, lent nothing to the vocals, nor did they do any of those cool backup singer dance moves. Brown faked the funk the entire show and only seemed to generally care during his melody of patriotism songs, which of course included the horrendous "Living in America."

Opening act Antibalas is lucky that most people who write about music have little familiarity with world music. That’s the only way to explain the hype this Afro-Cuban group has received. This 15-piece group misuses half the group – giving very few members any room to operate and their front man is uninspired and presented as if we’re suppose to like him just because he’s wearing a Dashiki. Antibalas presented a short set of jangled compositions, which were over packed and too long to sustain any constant energy. Outside of a rain soaked Harlemmade cap, this show cost nothing and that was it's only saving grace.

Tom Waits Verse of the Month

“Using parking meters as walking sticks. On the inebriated stroll. With my eyelids propped open at half mass.” – "Nighthawk Postcard" from the album Nighthawks at the Diner

This Month Radar Screen Picks Up

On the same day that I purchased the new Liz Phair CD, I listened to the first time to the expertly crafted For the Breaking by Lauren Fine. Needless to say upon first listening the debut effort from Ms. Fine was far more impressive than the latest offering from indie music queen Phair. Lauren Fine voice glides through the opening track "Easy" leaving traces of intimacy and pain along the way. "If we Call This Love" swings with pleasant guitar solos played nicely by Fine spiced through this upbeat number. Fine says she’s been writing songs since she was 10 (she must have also spent some time hitting the books for she is a Brown graduate in Biomedical Ethics) and her lyrics show a depth and creativity beyond her years. This is the best indie record Radar Screen has heard all year. If you live any where in Texas – first off we apologize – but as a constellation catch Lauren Fine in concert and buy her CD in local stores in Austin and at Tom’s Tracks in Providence, RI.

Every night last summer I would fall asleep to Joni Mitchell’s Blue which is about as relaxing of a record one could ever fine. The mature, gentle melodies on New Zealand’s Deborah Wai Kapohe I Unwrap You are sung with such grace and passion that she is a dead ringer for Mitchell. Anyone who can cleverly drop Lambton Quay into one of her songs, NZ Rain is fine in my book. "Do You Ever Live a Day?" and "Waiting to Catch a Poem" are among the highlights of this impressive debut.

Keeping with the "ladies-with-guitars" theme comes Newcastle-based Amy Vee and her four-track collection, All in Me. Vee has been doing the singer/songwriter thing since the age of 14 and these performances are a further testament to her exposure and experience. Vee is a fine vocalist, with a unique style and delivery that are captured expertly on the title track "All in Me." However, it is on the stripped down tracks "Friendly Fire" and "Where are You" where the raw talent of Amy Vee finally takes center stage. Amy believes “it’s important to keep evolving and taking new approaches,” so before she leaps to conquer new musical ground, take some time to enjoy this charismatic and talented young artist.

Sign Number 4,080 that Hip-Hop is Dead

Ta-Nehish Coates writing in the Village Voice mourns the death of hip-hop by analyzing lyrics that are out-of-touch with ghetto reality. Coates writes: “The crash is complete, and in any black community you can find the rubble – uneducated, unemployable, young black men. Their narrative no longer rings with the romance of a Nino Brown. Crack is played and so, apparently is fratricide – murder rates in the black community have been dropping since the mid-1990’s. The way of the gun still takes its toll but Saigon has been pacified. Mundane afflictions like unpaid child support and industrial flight have once again come to the fore.”

Going Out In Style

It’s been a tough year for entertainers, as legends of the industry seem to passing away daily. Celia Cruz, Barry White, Bob Hope, Herbie Mann, Buddy Hackett just to name a few. Why 2003 has been so rough is as tough a question to answer as why Jewel decided to turn herself into a slut. However, these people passed before many of them could hear Ben Harper and Jack Johnson butcher the Bob Marley classic "High Tide or Low Tide" in concert and on Carson Daly's show. And to think that I actually liked Jack Johnson.

With all this passing away, Radar Screen could not help but to think of what type of send-off we’d want. At BB King's Club in Times Square one night, it was clear that when it’s time to celebrate the shedding of this mortal coil, the Rebirth Brass Band needs to be leading my funeral procession. Rebirth has been moving people’s asses and souls for over 20 years, so doubt that they’ll be around. Even though some members have come and gone (Kermit Ruffins for one) – one thing has always remained the same – you don’t want to go to war with the Rebirth Brass Band. Formed by Bass Drummer Keith Frazier, Rebirth is an New Orleans institution. The brass band is made up of trumpet, trombone, tuba and tenor saxophone players, all in sync and harmony. Rebirth is not afraid to give their music an updated feel and the band, which looks like your average hip-hop group on stage, do not by any means live in the past.

Rebirth set the stage for PBS, which are 3 members of the Meters: George Porter, Russell Batiste, and Brian Stolz. When George Porter is in the house you can’t go wrong for he is the greatest living bass player on the planet. End of discussion. Porter played through two broken bass guitar strings and still sounded better than any bassist around. Russell is an amazing drummer and Stolz can lay funky guitar licks with the best of them. Even though some Funky Meters classic were left off the show (Cissy Strut, People Say) they bought enough funk with them to make up for the oversight. The Neville Brothers kicked off the show and with all these New Orleans groups invading NYC, it was only appropriate that the kept party going until nearly 4 am. And here we thought only P-Funk parties didn’t stop.

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Liner notes: Next month, Radar Screen reports live from California – on the lookout for Playmates, Fatburgers and new indie music. Got a band in the LA area for Radar Screen to check out, drop us a line at: radarscreen@2walls.com