Saturday, August 14, 1982
The Michigan Daily
Page 7
Deily Photo by DOUG McMAHON
Gregory Isaacs played at Second Chance on Thursday night.
Night of surprisas e
with Gregory Isaacs
Gatemouth
opens
it wide
and true
By James Staskowski
A BOUT midway through his first set
at Ricks Thursday night, Clarence
"Gatemouth" Brown, referring to his
drummer, said, "We snatched him out
of a blues band, (and now) we're going
to make a musician out of
him . .. There's a lot more music than
the blues."
Brown certainly proved this
Thursday night filling three long sets
with a variety of musical styles ranging
from jazz to country to Cajun to swing.
It almost seemed as if Brown, billed
and sold as a blues artist, would like to .
just forget the blues altogether - which
isn't surprising. The blues-and-blues-
artist monicker must be stifling to a
man who has done so much else so well.
Brown's performance was for the
most part entertaining, though often
lacking some life. Playing primarily
country and swing with a few blues and
jazz numbers tossed in, everything he
did had a bit of blues and a surprisingly
funky touch, thanks to a bassist who
was tight and tough. His choice of
covers was a bit staid ("A Train,"
"Stardust" etc.), but enlivened by his
playing which could hardly be labeled
similarly.
Adorning runs with squawks, and
plenty of distortion, Brown brought life
and invention to the most familiar and
tired phrases. His only downfall was an
eagerness to please not always in the
music's best interest. For example, at
the outset of the second set, Brown
launched into an introspective and
loosely structured rendition of "Star-
dust" only to mar it by proceeding to do
it up in a shtickish, crowd-pleasing
calypso style.
The most impressive thing about
Brown was his cool class. Everything
was "ladies and gentlemen" and
"please listen," and none of which
came off as gimmicky of showbizzy.
Between many songs he tried to tell the
crowd the story behind the next num-
ber, but was for the most part rudely
ignored by the Rick's mating bar
audience.
Here is a man who has played at all
the most prestigious festivals, has per-
formed with a staggering list of big
names in the jazz, blues, and country
fields, and is admired by an equally
long list of business heavyweights.
Thursday night, the din got so loud at
one point in the first set that Brown
politely asked for quiet twice before
coming right out and telling the crowd
to "Shut up!" Better luck next city, huh
Gatemouth?
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Class if2ied
By Ben Ticho
JUST KNEW this was going to be a
great concert.
Still, Thursday night's Gregory
Isaacs show at Second Chance did hold
a number of surprises, most of them
pleasant, some not as much.
First on stage was the heavy reggae
sounds of Detroit's own Makah Rhythm
Tribe. The Tribe is a pretty good local
group, with a penchant for bluesy in-
strumental ramblings, but I had come
especially early to hear Silver
Platinum, the promised lead band from
Jamaica, mysteriously bumped from
the show.
After the Tribe left, Isaacs' back-up
band, the Roots Raddics (or Radix, if
you prefer), stepped on stage and laun-
ched into some professional quality
dub. I had expected the Revolutionaires
(almost the same personnel, actually)
with the excellent lyric sounds of the
Heptones, but the singing group never
showed up. Nonetheless, the Raddics
proved themselves a very skillful bun-
ch, with a sure grasp of a lean reggae
sound perfect for bringing out vocals.
Ah yes, the vocals. The best surprise
of all-the Isaacs' tone carries over
beautifully from disc to live perfor-
mance. Right from his entrance,
singing "If you want to be my Number
One (tell me)," Isaacs was fully at
ease, immediately laid back and ready
for an evening's grooving.
Isaacs' voice is his main asset, sim-
ple and warm rather than a really full
sound, and he chooses his concert
material well, with an appropriate mix
of love songs, dancers, ballads,
politicos, etc. Actually, they were all
dancers, and there were plenty of them
to crowd Second Chance's floor. Most
everyone responded well to Isaacs,
singing back the choruses when the
singer pointed the mike at them.
Nobody got really wild (unusual for
Second Chance), maybe because
Gregory Isaacs' style is too cool to en-
courage frenzies of devotion or excess.
Somebody once described Isaacs as
"The Coolest Entertainer on Earth; no
one can dispute that Guidance." And
the man looks the part, strutting around
in that dark suit with the classic white
Panama hat. The Chance stage doesn't
afford much strutting room, but Isaacs
sang and did his little dance as if he had
no limits.
Actually, Isaacs' reggae, like most
good original music, probably has pret-
ty definite limits to it. He can croon
some excellent party and listenable
music-witness tunes like "Wonderful
Feeling" where he plaintively asks
"Have you ever been in love?"- and
See ISAACS, Page 10