A Musical Melting Pot At the Roxy

With the popularity of releases such as Guru's "Jazzmatazz" and Us3 's "Hand on the Torch," the last few years have seen hip-hop/jazz fusion hit the mainstream charts. Eminently cool horn lines and laid back hip-hop beats brought out new shades in each genre, creating a sound that, as the sales numbers affirm, lots of people liked. Forever dabbling in popular music, Branford Marsalis offered up his version of this recipe last year with his latest band's self-titled CD, "Buckshot LeFonque." On leave from "The Tonight Show," this band is now on tour and played a well-attended gig at the Roxy last Wednesday night.

The Roxy, by the way, is a cool place. With a large stage, a balcony that runs around three sides of the room, mirrors on the walls, and nice carpeting (except for the hardwood dance floor stuck right in front of the stage), it's completely opulent and a great place to see a show. The only bummer is that with tickets at $21.50, it's no cheap date. Then again, Branford Marsalis is no cheap name.

Son of Ellis and brother of Wynton, Branford Marsalis comes from a family of jazz greats. He is as well-trained and experienced as any saxophone player today, but unlike the rest of his family, he does not believe that "jazz" music is determined by whether or not it swings, bops or adheres to any general notion of "canonical jazz." That's why you hear him playing alongside Sting, Bruce Hornsby and The Grateful Dead, and in front of "The Tonight Show" band and now Buckshot LeFonque.

On "The Tonight Show", Marsalis's hipness is unduly restrained; he usually wears a suit and plays for about five seconds before they fade him out for a commercial. At the Roxy last week, playing for almost two-and-a-half house in a Knicks jersey and high-tops, things were a little more laid back.

For Buckshot LeFonque, Marsalis has concocted a veritable musical melting pot: a funk bassist, an electric guitarist, a latin percussionist, two keyboardists (one on Fender Rhodes, the other piano), a jazz horn section (trombone, trumpet and Marsalis on alto and tenor saxophones), a hip-hop drummer and a rap DJ, with intermittent help from a house rapper and three Caribbean dancehall rappers.

The repertoire consisted of tunes that were rooted either in jazz, hiphop, or dancehall. The hip-hop and jazz tunes worked out best overall, but there was a sense that with all of the elements in place, the music still didn't grab you. It was smart, it was cool, and it was very tastefully arranged, but it didn't reach any new realms of musical experience. In other words, it was hip, but it didn't hop.

One tune that did come off very well involved a vinyl recording of Maya Angelou reading her Pulitzer Prize-winning poem, "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." DJ Apollo sampled and scratched Angelou's voice over a relaxed beat one verse at a time, each one followed by emphatic Marsalis horn lines that cleverly reflected and refracted the intonation of Angelou's speech. The effect was very cool indeed.

Also noteworthy was a rendition of "Breakfast at Denny's," a track from the CD that featured DJ Apollo and Marsalis trading riffs.