Show features legendary world of funk performers

  MINDY ROSS/Daily Bruin Senior Staff James
Brown, backed by the Soul Generals, "shakes his money
maker" at the Greek Theatre on Saturday night.

By David Holmberg
Daily Bruin Staff

Los Angeles, the world capital of superficiality, got a lesson
in soul at the Greek Theatre Saturday night from the Grand Master
himself, Mr. James Brown.

He got by with a little help from his band, the Soul Generals,
as well as the impeccable band Tower of Power. The one-two
combination of these monuments of funk whisked the audience on a
joyous trip back into the 1970s heyday of soul.

Initiating the journey was the opening jazzy funk of Tower of
Power. Playing in some shape or another for roughly 33 years, the
band is generally hard to categorize because of its wide musical
style, which encompasses blues, gospel, jazz and, of course, funky
soul.

It was the last of these music genres that was in full force at
the Greek Theatre, as the group paid tribute to James Brown
himself, by keeping in line with his institutionalized essence of
soul.

Kicking it off with a powerful version of “Soul
Vaccination,” Tower of Power was led vocally by the
relatively recent addition of the soulful Larry Braggs. His voice
ranged from the long and deep pleading cries on such slow tunes as
“You’re Still a Young Man” to the energized
groove of “Soul With a Capital S.” Despite his short
time with the aging group, Braggs fit perfectly into the remarkably
tight ensemble.

Calling on the crowd to get on up, the group ripped into the
rousing “What Is Hip?” and inadvertently brought up a
compelling question.

Most of the middle-aged audience had no clue of what was hip and
did not know how to respond to the song. Somewhere in the last 25
years the mass populace lost the ability to get down and funky.

Fortunately, this talent was not lost with Tower of Power. The
band’s timing was impressively naturalistic, and its long
years of experience in grooving made it clear that at least someone
still had the funk.

  MINDY ROSS/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Larry
Braggs proves to be a valuable addition to the veteran
funk group Tower of Power. While Tower of Power was impressively
skilled, nothing conjures up that ideology of funk better than the
mere mention of the super dynamite soul of James Brown. And when
Brown took the stage, there was no denying who was number one.

Launching into his almost two- hour set with “Make it
Funky” was a fitting choice since that is exactly what Brown
did.

Always one for style, Brown wore a sequined gold jacket and
tight black slacks, the same thing he was probably wearing 30 years
ago. In fact, the 68-year-old performer looked much the same as he
always has, uniquely hip.

The only difference in his appearance was his relatively
restrained shaking and dancing. While understandable for his age,
it is hard not to secretly wish for one of his patented well-timed
splits, but even legends grow old. He could, however, still get
down to a degree, with a few shimmies and twists to recall an era
long gone.

Despite a lessening in physical energy, Brown’s voice was
still top-notch. Most soulful were his slow songs like “Try
Me,” but his supercharged hits such as “I Got You (I
Feel Good)” still echoed through the theatre with screams and
grunts. His often mumbled words mattered little in his soul-funk
style, which relied much more heavily upon hyped up movements and
frenzied dance steps than beautifully crafted lyrics. This is not
to say that Brown’s words were not poetic, especially with
phrases like “Stay on the scene, like a sex machine,”
but they were not necessarily the center of attention.

Although Brown was an obvious focal point, the rest of the stage
was comprised of other well-dressed and talented musicians.
Brown’s 11-member blue jacket and white pant-wearing band,
the Soul Generals, combined a jazzy horn section, dueling drums and
several first-rate blues guitarists to create that defining
feel.

The addition of four female back-up singers rounded out
Brown’s occasionally jarring “Huh!” and
“Uh!” utterances.

Added to the mix was an extremely talented and sequined dancer
who grooved harder and faster than even Brown could have in the
good old days. She even accompanied him on a strangely engaging
Spanish rap.

The large ensemble band, back-up singers and dancer all served
to create an exciting stage atmosphere, which simultaneously
distracted from Brown’s less energetic presence. This tactic
of using others to beef up his weaknesses was surprisingly
effective. It showed Brown’s acknowledgment of his own
band’s strengths as well as an admission of his own age
impairments.

Somewhat disconcerting was an extended version of his 1976 song,
“It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s
World,” in which he broke into mini-speeches of how a man
should treat a woman.

Was this not the same James Brown that served two years in
prison for assault and battery against his wife?

Regardless of its status as a classic, this sexist attitude felt
awfully outdated.

Ultimately, watching Brown and Tower of Power, was similar to
witnessing history reincarnate.

To say these groups are past their prime is an understatement
but at the same time, it is also unfair. They stand as living
reminders of where current music, particularly modern rap, stems
from and understanding what has come before is useful in
deciphering today’s popular trends.

Brown was a remarkable figure in the progression of funk and is
arguably the most significant African American musician in history.
However, his time for being a revolutionary figure has past.

So, take James Brown for what he is: a symbol of musical history
that changed society indefinitely. He will always be the
“hardest working man in show business” and a soulful
icon for the 1960s and 1970s, even if he is not working.