Soul Power

How times have changed! While watching this riveting movie one is just overwhelmed by how very different the times were in 1974 when the greatest fighter of all time, Muhammad Ali, went to Zaire to reclaim his heavyweight crown from George Foreman. At the same time a small group of impresarios and investors decided it would be a good idea hold a three-day concert to coincide with the fight. They would bring some of the biggest names in American soul music and mix them together with the cream of African and Latin musicians and bring the ghetto to the jungle as it were. Great idea, right? Well it does turn out to be a very musically rewarding experience, but the best laid plans as they say. The first 45 minutes of the film chronicle the political and financial jockeying to make the concert happen. It becomes clear that the ego of Don King drives things forward, while the poor schnook who represents the investors becomes paler by the minute as the Ali/Foreman fight faces trouble. The concert as it turns out has a life of its own as headliner James Brown is put in front of the press, and Ali does his thing. Ali’s presence looms large throughout the movie as he antagonizes Foreman, the U.S. press corps and anyone else who will listen. He is a marvel of physical perfection and mental acuity. Compared to what he is like today, it is remarkable and sad. He truly was the greatest. If you want to see his whole side of this story check out the excellent film When We Were Kings which is entirely about the fight itself. The main event here though is the music. In a way it feels like the African-American version of Woodstock. The scenes of the artists on the plane over to Africa really convey how meaningful the whole event to them. We see James Brown and Lloyd (Mr. Personality) Price embracing and saying “We’re going home.” The struggle for civil rights was not a distant memory to these men but a recent wound.

The performances are, without exception, breathtaking. The musical portion kicks off with The Spinners who are immaculate as they groove through “One Of A Kind Love Affair.” They are soul personified in their lightning sequined outfits and synchronized dance steps. The artists come fast and furious, and none disappoint. In fact there wasn’t one performance that didn’t make me wish to see the whole set. BB King is at the height of his powers, Bill Withers sends chills with a solo acoustic performance. The Crusaders are one of the real highlights with a very young Larry Carlton being notable as the lone white guy on stage. All the African performers are magnificent. It is a rare and inspiring treat to see a radiant Miriam Makeba defining exotic beauty, or Franco leading his OK Jazz band through a tight workout or Tabu Ley dancing and singing with unbelievable charisma.

The musical highlights just build as The Fania Allstars featuring Celia Cruz and Hector Lavoe completely tear it up. The full stadium of Africans erupts in joy as Cruz proves why she is one of the most explosive performers the world has ever known. The musical and emotional peak has to be Soul Brother Number One, James Brown, who is such a commanding presence it almost seems impossible. His performance of “The Big Payback” is as good as it gets. He has put on a little weight since his 60’s heyday but his dancing is clearly where Michael Jackson got much of his inspiration and his singing is unearthly. One can’t even fathom where Brown’s style came from - it is so unique and personal. He is truly unlike any other singer - ever. Brown is given the last 15 minutes of the movie, which is appropriate because obviously his image and music made a great impression on the African audience. In fact throughout the movie, everyone - Ali, the other Musicians, the investors, everyone - seems to be in awe of James Brown. As the movie ends you just yearn to see more of the footage of James Brown and each of these amazing musicians in this once-in-a-lifetime gathering.
Paul Epstein

What Are You Listening to Lately (part 6)?

Sorry I've slacked folks. Holidays, film festival, and other stuff (including laziness) conspired to keep me down. I promise I'll get back on track. I swear it.

Franco – African Classics
First disc is a chronological mess, while the second runs more or less in order (with a couple jumps). But the music makes it across the board, and it’s nice for me to pick up my third Franco “Best of” collection with minimal overlap with the other two. And what’s that? Liner notes that not only tell you a little about each piece, but tell you which CD the track is on, should you choose to follow through on some favorites? The amateur ethnomusicologist/collector nerd in me is in heaven! Only drawback for me is that not every track is as killer as on competing best ofs – the great-but-out-of-print The Very Best of Franco or the equally great and still in print The Rough Guide to Franco (or the brand-new Francophonic, just released last week to right the wrong Stern's made when they took Very Best of out of print). But for two in-print, domestically available discs studded with greatness and always delivering joy at a single disc price, it seems foolish if not downright stupid of me to even mention that it’s less consistent. It’s pretty great throughout, and if my taste favors the dancy, guitar-heavy 70’s and 80’s material while this even-handedly represents the rumba-leaning 50’s and 60’s, that’s my problem. Get it if you have the slightest inkling that you’d enjoy it.

Run DMC – Raising Hell
More consistent than the debut, though nothing here is as startlingly brilliant as “Rock Box” or “Sucker MC’s.” Even so, it’s brimming with a confidence and verve their sophomore effort lacks and from first beat to last they rarely step wrong. As a crossover move, “Walk This Way” was (and still is) a stroke of genius – or at least it was a stroke to get Tyler and Perry on board for the ride. The song slays – great original turned into great cover, and Tyler sounds as comfortable in this setting as the guys from Hollis (a great shot in the arm for his commercial potential of the day, too). What used to be the A-side is a great sequence – perfect opener in “Peter Piper” to the back-to-back anthems of "It’s Tricky” and “My Adidas” to the aforementioned “Walk This Way” to a slight cooldown with the short, funky hit of “Is It Live” and the totally live-in-the-studio feel of “Perfection.” The former B kicks almost as hard, dipping in quality only on “Dumb Girl” (it’s still funky tho) and letting up the intensity only for the jokey humor of “You Be Illin’,” but making up for any flaws with one of the best and most out-there pieces of music they ever essayed – “Proud to Be Black.” In a way, that song is the statement of purpose of both album and career for these guys, summing up in a few succinct phrases and wild scratches what the braggadocio of not even just their own career, but all of this era of rap had as its unspoken subtext – unspoken until now, of course. Shoulda been a single, though songs with “motherfucker” in them don’t get on the radio often. And the singles here signified plenty on their own. Backed by the deeper album cuts, it makes for a damn near flawless listening experience and what may in the long run prove to be their finest album.

Stereolab – Mars Audiac Quintet
My second most favorite by Stereolab though I’d point out that I’m not really to be trusted since A) I pretty much stopped picking up new albums by them somewhere around the turn of the millennium and B) I think that all their albums except the divine Emperor Tomato Ketchup are of more or less equal quality (high). But some – this one, for example – are slightly more equal and find their way into my listening more regularly than others. This fact is helped along by little strokes like the terrific lyrics of “Wow and Flutter,” the Krautrock influence that puts a fine, artsy, electro-acoustic sheen on things, and the brilliance of “Des Etoiles Electroniques,” a little slice of heaven which just floats above and beyond the rest of the record. A shame it comes in so early – would’ve made a nice linchpin in the middle of the record. But it’s pretty great throughout – more rock-heavy than later albums would prove to be, yet infused with the breathy melodiousness that makes it seem lighter than air, a fact punctured by the seriousness of the lyrics: usually political, always leftist, often in French. It’s one of the best spoonfuls of sugar they’ve created to make their socialist medicine go down.