SnoCore mixes musical styles

Hear hip-hop, jazz and poetry at Seattle concert

ROSS RAIHALA, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Friday, February 22, 2002

Hip-hop has long looked to jazz for inspiration and, in recent years, it's become increasingly common to see the two genres share a concert bill.

The SnoCore Icicle Ball, which stops in Seattle tonight, takes the cross-fertilization one step further.

The package tour boasts frequent Northwest visitors Spearhead and two other acts -- Blackalicious and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe -- poised to break through to the mainstream.

More than anything else, the three groups share an adventurous spirit and a refusal to be pinned down into any easily defined musical category. Throw in poet Saul Williams as the opening act and the SnoCore Icicle Ball looks like one of the season's most diverse evenings of entertainment.

Here, then, is a peek at SnoCore's performers ...

Spearhead

"I've never been into hard rock," Spearhead leader Michael Franti once said. "I guess I always had a rebellion against white, water-skiing, beer-drinking, Camaro-driving culture. I was listening to hip-hop all along. And I always dug the spirit of punk rock. Even though I didn't like the music, I dug the D.I.Y. attitude."

Part activist, part musician, Franti seems equally committed to both ends, weaving strong political views into his songs that incorporate hip-hop, R&B and jazz.

Franti first made waves as the leader of the Beatnigs, an industrial/experimental group signed to Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles record label. After one fiery, self-titled album in 1988, Franti and fellow Beatnig Rono Tse formed a more beat- centric group, the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy.

In 1994, Franti switched gears once again when he formed Spearhead, a smoother R&B act that scored a minor hit that same year with "Hole in the Bucket."

Spearhead, according to the Trouser Press Record Guide, "takes a subtler route, shining a megadose of deliriously warm sunlight to illuminate serious issues -- poverty, HIV, police, suicide -- as well as such cultural signifiers as food, basketball and nightlife ... (Franti is) an intelligent, articulate poet."

Franti and Spearhead visit Washington often, and his band has played in Olympia and Seattle numerous times over the past five years.

According to the New Musical Express: "Franti's golden period is now upon him."

Blackalicious

Lyricist/MC Gift of Gab and DJ/ producer Chief Xcel began working together back in 1988 and watched the now-fertile San Francisco hip-hop community develop before their very eyes.

In the earliest days of Blackalicious, the duo lived in separate cities and used a phone line to collaborate. As Gab once said: "(Xcel) would hook up beats and play them for me over the phone. I would then write to what I heard and call him back with finished songs."

By 1991, the two had moved into an apartment together, hooked up with DJ Shadow and began recording for his fledgling Solesides label.

Two years later, Solesides released its first single, which featured Gab and Xcel collaborating with DJ Shadow and other like minds. Several Blackalicious singles soon followed.

The flurry of activity attracted Britain's hugely influential electronic label Mo'Wax. The company released Solesides tracks abroad and, in the process, made DJ Shadow an international star. Blackalicious, meanwhile, was able to tour Europe in 1995 and start work on a debut full-length album.

The two ended up spending the latter half of the '90s recording nearly 50 songs, which were whittled down to the single-disc "Nia," released to great acclaim in 2000.

Of "Nia," Rolling Stone said: "this longing for post-gangsta hip-hop has been expressed before but has seldom rocked so well."

MCA signed Blackalicious on the strength of that buzz and is set to release the duo's next album, "Blazing Arrow," at the end of April.

The roster of high-profile guests includes Ben Harper, former Rage Against the Machine vocalist Zach de la Rocha and Beastie Boys collaborator Money Mark alongside members of the Roots, Jurassic 5 and Dilated Peoples. SnoCore poet Saul Williams even makes an appearance on the record

Karl Denson's Tiny Universe

Saxophonist Karl Denson may call his band Tiny Universe, but it's one that's expanding at a frenetic pace.

The jazz-funk group has landed plenty of fans who miss the good old days of Parliament. But they've also found a warm reception among the suburban hippies and frat boys who follow Grateful Dead-influenced acts such as Phish and the String Cheese Incident.

"We're getting (that) jam-band audience," Denson told the Boston Globe, "but we cross a few more boundaries in terms of age and social demographics. We're getting some of the more funkster types, and a sprinkle of jazz types."

Denson first emerged as a sideman for Lenny Kravitz, who asked the San Diego-based horn player to perform a solo on the song "Let Love Rule."

Impressed by Denson's abilities, Kravitz featured him on his first two albums as well as the subsequent tours.

In 1992, Denson started his own career in jazz music and, two years later, formed the Greyboy Allstars. When that band disintegrated, Denson began exploring more R&B and funk-oriented directions with Tiny Universe.

"It's a different idea. One of the things I really wanted were some guys who played jazz on their own before doing it with me," Denson told one reporter. "(Now I'm) totally dictating what style for them to play, which is like a funk style that they are not that familiar with so it's kind of cool."

Jazz Review magazine picked Denson's most recent album, "Dance Lesson #2," as one of 2001's best: "Who says you can't dance to the groove and make a little jazz too? Not Karl Denson who ... (recorded) a funky fest that jams from start to finish."

Ross Raihala covers music and entertainment for The Olympian and can be reached at 360-754-5406 or OlyRoss@aol.com.

SnoCore Icicle Ball

- What: A package tour featuring poet Saul Williams, Spearhead, Blackalicious and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe.

- When: 7 p.m. Feb. 22.

- Where: The Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave., Seattle.

- Tickets: $25.

- For information: Call Ticketmaster Northwest at 206-628-0888.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

back to Music index