I've always maintained that the true test of a musician is a live performance - no chance to hide behind a phalanx of studio musicians or layers of synthesizers and drum machines, multiple takes and overdubs and the rest of the recording industry technology designed to enhance as well as manufacture talent. At an event like the Eighth Annual Roots Sound Session, held July 12-15,2012 in Downtown Providence, musicians have to rely on their own ability in the raw with the crowd as combination critics and reviewers. Fortunately, the diverse lineup and all aspects of the event, put together by Len Cabral and Providence Inner City Arts Roots Cultural Center, did not disappoint.
The urban block party atmosphere featured separate stages outside on Westminster and Mathewson Streets as well as the Roots stage indoors, the entire area fenced off and a section set up as an impromptu food court. The event this year encompassed Kid City on Saturday , a Saturday night parade, a Sunday Gospel Buffet and continuous music. We got there around 8:00 Saturday night, in time to catch Los Planeros del Coco stirring up a frenetic Latin mix on one stage and We Own Land pumping out metal on the other, with an appreciative crowd partying in between. Sue and I found a great vantage point on the steps of a church between both bands, basking in the battle of the genres until we decided to check out the Roots stage indoors. Roots is designed for comfort, from the artfully arranged couches and chairs in the front suggesting a very laidback living room to the tables nestled in the corners, along the wall and in the mezzanine overhead fronting the stage.
Back when I was a deejay on the Martha's Vineyard radio station, I used to do a jazz show. I didn't know a lot about the music at the time but, thanks to the influence of legendary Cape Cod "Night Train" host Otis Sutton , I began to appreciate the styles and complexities and influences that make it a unique American art form which brings me to the best music we heard that night - Michael C. Lewis Soul Jazz Experience. Although his exceptional trumpet playing clearly evokes Miles Davis, I first thought of Ramsey Lewis and US 3 (If anyone remembers them!) and Pharoah Sanders, whom Michael has played with, as well as artists from Patti LaBelle to Jimmy Heath to Wilson Pickett. Michael Lewis pays homage to the greats, but makes the music his own on endless jams like "Cloud Parade" from his debut 2010 CD "Reflection" (Available from Lewis' Cybervision Entertainment), the perfect progression of notes floating above and mixing with the interplay of strings, keyboard and percussion, creating an image, a feeling of serenity, casting a spell on the appreciative audience. We basked in Lewis soulful sound until the end of his first set drove us back outside, just in time to catch Brass Attack running through the obligatory Chicago number, but then nicely seguing into the Jackson Five before their set ended.
As the Big Nazo puppets mingled with street musicians waiting for the ska band The Agents to play, we heard some of The Silks' music from the Mathewson Street Stage. I caught some incredibly good blues riffs but ended up drifting back to wait for ska. having been a fan of The Mighty Bosstones and The Specials among others. The Agents took the stage after a brief debate with the soundman, launching into their first frenetic trademark number, but after three songs Sue and I decided that the lure of Michael C. Lewis was impossible to resist and headed back inside to Roots. Our timing was excellent, because Lewis and the band launched into an incredible version of "We've Only Just Begun". showcasing an endless trumpet solo that took the melody apart and then rearranged it in endless variations - slash - riffs, inventing and improvising into a grand finale that had the laidback audience hooting and clapping.
Great music, great company, great event, lots of entertainment for a low price and remember - Sound Session 2013 is now less than a year away.
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