***1/2 Junior Vasquez

KEITH HARING: A RETROSPECTIVE, THE MUSIC OF HIS ERA

(L.O.G.I.C./Pagoda)

Whatever one may think of Keith Haring's graffiti art, it's hard to dismiss Junior Vasquez's mix of songs from the "Haring era." His set opens with "The Artist Speaks," a sweet and brazen beat progression that moves, Vasquez-style, directly to craziness, unlike the aimless "lecture about disappearing art" that Haring, as dubbed by Vasquez, delivers in sound bites over the anything-but-disappearing rhythm. After which comes a selection of songs about happiness and melancholy and why looking great is the best revenge -- few of which the average MTV fan will have heard of, much less heard: South Shore Commission's 1975 club hit "Free Man," Diana Ross's 1976 "Love Hangover," Karen Young's 1978 "Hot Shot," and, from the 1980s, such formative anthems of diva style as Gwen Guthrie's "Padlock," Todd Terry Project's Weekend," Dhar Braxton's "Jump," and C-Bank's "One More Shot." All of them aural beauty spots. Because that's what the "Haring era" was made of.

-- Michael Freedberg