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Thursday, April 2, 2009
Urban Music Festival preview: Word Up! chatting with Cameo
As the Urban Music Festival enters its fourth year, the event boasts a solid lineup. The national entertainment part of the festival kicks off at 6:25 p.m. with a performance by hip-hop originators the Sugar Hill Gang. R&B juggernauts Boyz II Men take the stage at 7:30 and the evening’s entertainment will reach a climax at 9 p.m. with a performance by Cameo.
Currently working on a thirtieth anniversary album, Cameo began dropping hits back in the late seventies/early eighties, when tracks like “Rigor Mortis” and “Shake Your Pants” burned up the dance floors at r&b clubs. With the release of “Word Up” in 1986 the group skyrocketed, their unique take on new wave synthesizer funk, coupled with outrageous visual presentation earning them international fame. We caught up with Cameo front man Larry Blackmon over the phone from his office in Atlanta and took a few minutes to talk about electro-funk, hip-hop and the effect of Cameosis.
Music Source: I read that you attended Juilliard, how did your background as a classically trained artist influence your pop sensibility?
It was an extension program that Julliard was offering to those not able to afford to go. Drums were my primary instrument but it was also for composition. There was a lot that I got out of it, not much musically as much as organization. I worked with strings as well as horns and others and working later as a producer [that] helped a great deal in orchestration. There was nothing about Julliard that I found enjoyable because I thought they pretty much had their heads up their [explicative]. [I was] hearing statements like “no one made any contributions to pop music outside of the Beatles.” And I love the Beatles, don’t get me wrong, but I just thought the professors teaching the classes were bitter. Most of the people you had to listen to were dead anyway. I dropped out after probably a year and a half because during that same time I was pursuing a record contract with Casablanca records and trying to make it happen.
There was a moment in the 80s when a lot of musical purists seemed afraid that synthesizers were going to kill live instrumentation. How did the introduction of synthesizers into pop music affect your process?
I saw synthesizers as a new hue or color for the brush depending on what you were trying to accomplish. To be able to come in the industry at a time when synthesizers were just making their debut was really interesting for me, because at the turn of the electronic movement I brought with me a lot of the foundational older ways of achieving the sounds you wanted.
Your music seems to exist at a point of transition from analog soul to new wave funk. Do you consider yourself pioneers of that sound?
We consider ourselves pioneers period. Mainly because we created our own autonomy within our organization in several different ways, musically and organization wise. Instead of the record company being a part of anything we created, we were self contained and conceptually self contained as well. So yes, pioneers with a lot the ways we used what we did as well as our attitude. We don’t see ourselves as a part of the target chasing its tail. We still demand the right to musical freedom.
In addition to the music, your group has always been at the forefront of visual presentation. Can you talk about your influences in that regard?
It’s the same thing, the attitude of being mavericks. I don’t want to say we came in to be revolutionaries, but the journey, when you reflect upon it, that’s pretty much what it was about because we felt that we had to have impact with whatever we did. If it didn’t have impact we didn’t want to do it. We didn’t want to buy into the McDonald’s commercialization with how we thought.
You’re sharing a bill with Sugar Hill Gang at the Urban Music Festival. You were in New York City when hip-hop culture was taking root, were you in tune with that scene in its early days?
Well that’s hard to say. What we call hip-hop to us is funk. And everything emanates from having its roots far away in blues. Having attended the Apollo Theater since I was like 5 years old and being fortunate enough to have seen every late great black performer, I’ve watched the growth of a lot of things. I think I saw the first show of Parliament turning into Parli-funkadelic-ment with George Clinton. Having seen several shows of James Brown, and having a family connection by uncles and cousins having performed for him, it made it that much more interesting to see all of these acts and to see the evolution of whatever it was. And I believe it was Dyke and the Blazers had a song called “Funky Broadway” that really started a different thing with the drums at a time when I was becoming addicted to drums. Hip-hop to me, again, is funky music. After the Sugar Hill Gang came out with “Rapper’s Delight,” shortly thereafter we came out with “She’s Strange” which was our version of an intelligent man’s rap.
How have your shows evolved over the years, and what can Austin expect from your performance at the Urban Music Festival?
It’s rare that you get people coming to a Cameo show unless you’ve been exposed to Cameo. We call it the effect of Cameosis. We still have loyal fans and as we prepare to work on our thirtieth anniversary recording, they know what to expect, the same craziness, but the same sensitivity to the material.
The Urban Music Festival takes place Saturday at Auditorium Shores. The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $15. $50 V.I.P. seating is available online only. Children 12 and under are free. For more information see urbanmusicfest.com.
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Urban Music Festival preview: Mariah Roberson
While the big names at the top of the bill are surely the draw for the Urban Music Festival, the community-oriented event also provides an outlet for Austin’s young r&b and soul artists to strut their stuff. Last year we discovered Mariah Roberson. She was thirteen at the time with a lithe physique that could barely contain her explosively soulful pipes. Mariah returns to the festival for the third time this weekend after a string of exciting opening spots and with a small film role in the works. Mariah is now fourteen and a freshman at Stony Point High School in Round Rock. We caught up with her through the email to chat about her budding career.
Music Source: Since we caught up with you at the Urban Music Festival last year you’ve had quite a few exciting performances. Who are some of the people that you’ve opened for and what’s the coolest thing that’s happened at one of these shows?
Mariah: I opened for Sean Kingston, the Manhattans and Anthony Hamilton since last year’s Urban Music Festival. I am also scheduled to open up for Maxwell at the Austin Music Hall in May. The coolest thing is meeting the established artists and learning so much from them about the positives and negatives of the music business. I really enjoyed performing for 7500 people when I opened for Sean Kingston, it was amazing seeing that many people looking at and listening to me.
We heard you recently won the American Idol Experience competition at Walt Disney World Resort can you describe that experience?
It was so much fun competing at the American Idol Experience at the Hollywood Studios at Disneyworld. I competed against 400 people, then they narrowed it to 21, then to the final seven. I won with the song “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston. It was just like being on American Idol,including the three judges who critiqued our performances. I liked that the judges gave us constructive criticism and advice during the whole competition. After I won the competition, they compared me to Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. Alicia Keys is my idol and I hope I can follow in her footsteps. They also said that I am going to be the next Pop Star. I hope they are right.
Do you hope to compete on ‘American Idol’?
Yes, it would great to compete on American Idol. By winning the competition, I earned a gold certificate to audition for “American Idol” when I turn 16. However, I heard that Mr. Simon Cowell wants to reduce the age requirement to 14 or 15, which would make me eligible next year.
Who’s your favorite ‘Idol’ contestant and why?
Carrie Underwood. I love her voice and one of my favorite songs is “Jesus Take The Wheel”.
What about your favorite judge?
Simon, Simon, Simon. I love Simon. He is so honest and he provides constructive criticisim. He sounds harsh at times, but he is really providing great advice, which can help you as an artist. I don’t know why the audience is always booing him since he is the most honest on the panel. I would be a little nervous, but I would love for Simon to critique my singing and provide any feedback. If he gives negative feedback, I am sure my parents and sister would boo him, but any feedback would be helpful.
Now that you’re in high school, how do you balance your performance schedule with your schoolwork?
Academics must come first. I practice at night after I am finished with my homework.All of my performances have either been on a Friday night or a weekend night, so I have been fortunate to avoid any conflicts.
Can you talk about your role in the upcoming film “Mama, I Want to Sing?”
I am going to play the character of Amara Winter, an aspiring singer, on the verge of pop stardom. I play Amara when she was 13 years old and singing in the church. Ciara plays the older character of Amara. I have a few scenes in the movie, but it’s just exciting to be in it. I also get to perform a few songs in the movie and on the soundtrack. My dad is Reverend Dr. Kenneth Winter (played by Marvin Winans and mother, Lillian Winter (played by Lynn Whitfield). Patti Labelle, Ben Vereen and Billy Zane are also in the movie. Amara becomes a pop star and she has to balance her career in the pop world with the pressure of her mother to sing gospel music in the church. I was supposed to play the part on Broadway, but the play was pushed back because the movie was delayed. But hopefully, the movie will come out later this year.
This is your third year performing at the Urban Music Festival, what’s your favorite part of the festival?
That is easy. Performing in front of your hometown and having so many people out there support young artists trying to succeed in life. Austin is a great city and we are fortunate to be able to have an Urban Soul Festival.
Mariah will perform a solo set at the Urban Music Festival at 12:15 p.m. She will also perform two songs with Urban Soul at 12:30 p.m. and two songs during Blue Mist’s set at 5:30 p.m. The Urban Music Festival takes place Saturday at Auditorium Shores. Tickets are $15.
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Weekend picks: Garage rock, Cuban jazz and Urban Music
FRIDAY
Benefit for Anna Ives at Beerland. Anna Ives is the young daughter of Zac Ives, who co-owns the fantastic Memphis record label Goner Records. She has been undergoing treatment for cancer for the past two years. This is an amazing bill of Austin’s best garage rockers with the Crack Pipes, the Hex Dispensers, the Teeners, the Stuffies and Red River Coke Machine playing on one of Austin’s most intimate stages. 9 p.m. Cover is $7, but we both know you can swing a little more. — Joe Gross
Also recommended
- Lil’ Cap’n Travis, Brothers & Sisters at the Continental
- Sons of Hercules at Red 7
- Yonder Mountain String Band with Todd Snider at Stubb’s
- Carrie Rodriguez at the Cactus
- Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 at Antone’s
- Invincible Czars CD release at the Scoot Inn
- Spitting Bullets CD release at the Parlor
SATURDAY
Urban Music Festival at Auditorium Shores. Cameo, Boyz II Men and Sugarhill Gang are just a few of the acts playing what has become an annual event. Gates at 11 a.m. $15 general admission, $50 VIP. (Official afterparty at Antone’s with Bavu Blakes and the Extra Plairs and more. $10 advance, $12 door.) — J.G.
Also recommended
- Ray Wylie’s Grit & Groove Fest (Patty Griffin, Hayes Carll and more) at Luckenbach
- Seth Walker at the Bugle Boy (La Grange)
- Hal Ketchum at the Cactus
- Swamp Thing with War, Galactic at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Congress Avenue
- Uncle Lucius CD release at Threadgill’s(South)
- Clem Snide at the Mohawk
- Suffocation, Whitechapel at Red 7
- The Soldier Thread CD release, Pompeii, Jets Under Fire at La Zona Rosa.
SUNDAY
Arturo Sandoval at One World Theatre. This Cuban jazz titan has picked up five Grammys, six Billboard Awards and an Emmy. Sandoval seems the perfect fit for this West Austin theater — classy, skilled, iconic. There are two shows, one at 6 p.m., the other at 8:30. $36.50 to $77.50. — J.G.
Also recommended
- The Way It Is Fest with Results, Determined to Defeat, Out to Sea and more at Red 7 (early show, doors at noon)
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The Ron Westray/Thomas Heflin Jazz Project to record live at the Elephant Room
The Ron Westray/Thomas Heflin Jazz Project will record April 24 at the Elephant Room. The set starts at 9:30 p.m. and is a date for Blue Canoe Records, an all-digital jazz label. A second live performance at the Elephant Room on May 15 will also be recorded for the CD.
Westray may be best known for his work as lead trombonist for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra under Wynton Marsalis. Heflin recently released his debut album, “Symmetry,” on Blue Canoe.
Also playing on the session are Austin jazz musicians Peter Stoltzman and Elias Haslanger with Branford Marsalis quartet bassist Eric Revis and drummer Adonis Rose , the artistic director of the Fort Worth Jazz Orchestra.
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Review: Leonard Cohen, night 1 at the Long Center
Leonard Cohen treated us to a night of blue elegance Wednesday night at the Long Center (he plays a second show Thursday night). More than any song, any moment, I’ll savor the evening for its spirit, for its languid, stylish, melancholy tone. That, and the sheer majesty of the Cohen musical canon, laid out over the course of a three-hour concert that featured four encores.
Cohen’s concert wasn’t so much a presentation of songs as a riveting poetry reading with a klezmer-caberet vibe, a little bluesy, a little jazzy and, above all, literate. For decades, his touring bands have taken pride in being “the quietest band in America.” We hear the words. Cohen’s drummer, Austin’s Rafael Gayol, likes to say it can get so quiet you can almost hear dust collide.
Yes.
Cohen, 74, is thinner, grayer, than that “60-year-old kid with a crazy dream” that passed through Austin on the 1988 and 1993 concert tours. But his ocean-deep bass voice - and his will - are strong. There were moments, in the muscular encore tunes “First We Take Manhattan” and “So Long, Marianne” when Cohen sang powerfully over the top of his angelic, swaying troupe of background singers, led by Sharon Robinson. If you shut your eyes: The voice and the energy suggested a singer whose heart was completely in the present, not the past.
There were great moments: “Bird on a Wire” was so delicate, so rich with quiet space and stately grace, timeless as moonlight. “Anthem,” the closer of the first set, was transcendent, orchestral, presented in celestial light. When Cohen sang “Can’t run no more with the lawless crowd/while the killers in high places say their prayers out loud,” it was not with resignation, but with grit and purpose.
Well, let’s see: Charley and Hattie Webb, his two new background singers, coyly removed their jackets - and then spun cartwheels when Cohen sang the line “You’ll see your women hanging upside down” (or was it “the blizzard of the world has overturned your soul”?) during “The Future.” “Hallelujah” drew a standing ovation in the second set.
Cohen’s spoken-word rendition of “Recitation with N.L.,” adapted from his new poetry collection “Book of Longing,” framed by delicate synthesized keyboards, was a dramatic highpoint in the second set. There was a huge communal sigh in the house — more striking than any applause — when Cohen ended the first stanza with these words: “my mirrored twin, my next of kin, I’d know you in my sleep/ And who but you would take me in, a thousand kisses deep.”
A last word about the staging, the music, and the role of Cohen’s musical director - bassist Roscoe Beck. After working with Cohen for three decades, Beck has skillfully melded his own sophisticated instincts with Cohen’s lyrical power. Beck likes the blues, and he likes jazz. Both energies were palpable Wednesday. The band’s use of Hammond B-3 organ plays to both the sensual and sacred currents in Cohen’s music.
Beck knows this in his head. We felt it in our hearts. It was a soft, lyrical, lovely night.
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