an interesting name and an interesting writeup in the program
promising a fuse of traditional ethiopian song with jazz, hip-hop and funk
which really should have sounded the warning bells but pressing on...
on opening night of womadelaide and an appearance on a favourite stage
the morten bay stage having hosted some memorable acts over the years
the anticipation that it could have been another case of the same
a hopeful expectation that something new and exciting would be heard
they are a large ensemble of musicians packed onto a small stage
a mixture of genders, races, nationalities amongst the group members
something to be embraced and continuing a fine womad tradition
where the only measurement is how good you are as a musician
the band starting up and demonstrating a high level of musicianship
trumpet and sax featuring as the major jazz component of the band
a very funky bass player putting his sound right at the centre
vocals coming in the form of a white-boy does hip-hop
percussion, guitar and backing vocals completing the lineup
a nod to africa given in regard to dress with loud colours favoured
not usually something of any significance but noticeable here
so all in all everything seemed to be in place for this outfit
as they worked into their set i noticed something was missing
basically for me the wow factor was just not coming over
which meant i fairly quickly moved into critical mode
looking for reasons why this group was not cutting it
an answer given when recognising the chaps on brass
the pair last seen at the wangaratta jazz festival
in that case at that time playing in a band called blow
and so it occured to me that this band was a local outfit
no problem with that of course except the probable motivation
an awareness of the popularity of rap-style vocals for one
mixed in with some play-that-funky-music-white-boy rhythms
add in some jazzy brass sounds to give it afrobeat cred
make it visually right with some african women on vocals
then give the whole thing a name that challenges interest
the black jesus experience - that will stir up the pot
and anyway bingo - a band bigger than it's element parts
nope - a band of obvious derivation and lacking direction
and worse still - possibly created quite deliberately
fill in some gaps at music festivals needing cheap filling
anyway i drag myself back from such negative thinking
concentrate on what they had to offer musically anyway
try to appreciate the chap doing rap out the front
watch the brass section in awe of their versatility
be inspired by the female vocals and their african heritage
get the feet tapping with the bass-drums-percussion trio
but in the end basically get annoyed with it all together
too much derivation for my liking and no spark
making the festival score so far originality 1 derivation 1
2 bands down and many more to go - thankfully
the black jesus experience - catch 'em while you can
they may not be around too long is my thinking
but for me - moving on - next please
