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[Future Events]

 

NEMO NEWS: Last year, for the first time in its history, Boston’s NEMO music conference — a three-night festival of music performances, showcases, and panels (including the annual Boston Music Awards gala) modeled after Austin’s South by Southwest and New York’s CMJ Music Marathon — seemed on the verge of becoming more than a pay-to-play scam for attention-starved bottom feeders. Credit Atlantic founder Ahmet Ertegun and multi-platinum rock monsters Godsmack for according a crucial dose of credibility by gracing last year’s festivities. This year, wouldn’t you know it, NEMO has a bunch of nü-metal bands coming in from out of town. San Antonio techno-metal dudes the Union Underground headline a Karma showcase with locals Seventh Rail Crew; LA’s Linkin Park headline the Roxy with locals Nullset (formerly Gangsta Bitch Barbie, now signed to Grand Royal). More important, this is the first year NEMO can boast top-notch local music: Kay Hanley and friends do a night at Karma, Darkbuster headline an all-ages gig at Bill’s, Milligram and Quintaine Americana top a Curve of the Earth showcase at the Linwood, and Metro Concepts sponsors a definitive Boston hip-hop showcase at the Middle East featuring Mr. Lif, Krumb Snatcha, 7L & Esoteric, and many more. That’s just a sliver of the 200 or so bands performing at nearly every club in town on April 20 and 21; for more info call (781) 306-0441 or visit www.nemoboston.com.

JAZZICAL: It’s become a yearly fundraising event, and that must say something about its popularity: next Saturday, March 31, Benjamin Zander and the Boston Philharmonic will once again be joined by the Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble for an evening of spontaneous and original musicmaking. It starts at 6 p.m. in Harvard University’s Memorial Hall with cocktails and a buffet dinner of New Orleans and New England favorites. Then at 8 everybody moves across the hall to Sanders Theater for the concert, which will include a performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue by Kevin Cole, who we’re told is the Gershwin family’s favorite pianist. And that will be followed by a reception: drinks, desserts, and dancing to the LRJE well into the night. Tickets at $185 (dinner, concert, and party) or $60 (just the concert and the party), are available through the Sanders Theatre box office at 496-2222. For further concert info, contact the Boston Philharmonic office at 868-6696.

NEXT WEEKEND

Masters of Groove

In the early ’90s, cultural critics and record labels decried sampling as the devil’s work — as an art-heisting tactic designed to sucker-punch musicians and cheat song-publishing companies out of their beloved back catalogues. But once the industry began to enforce its copyrights — and to make money from the practice via high-priced licensing fees — sampling was all good. The resulting pay-to-loop policy put an end to free-range sampladelic treats like De La Soul’s Three Feet High and Rising and eventually led to the return of Casio-based producers like Swizz Beatz. But the era of high-priced sampling has also given some slept-on artists a second lease on life — from the singer/songwriter Dido, who was dead in the water until Mark the 45 King looped her ethereal pipes for Eminem’s “Stan,” to Reuben Wilson, a celebrated jazz player who had faded from the scene until the early ’90s, when producers snagged his organ vamps for classic hip-hop tracks by Nas and A Tribe Called Quest.

In Wilson’s case, the attention from hip-hop collectors reanimated a dormant career. “I became pretty busy after that,” he recalls over the phone from New York. “It presented me an opportunity to make some new fans. It was sort of flattering.” As for his popularity among crate diggers and hip-hop producers, he doesn’t have much of an explanation. “They like to have something funky behind their raps. It was just apropos for the time. And there was money involved, so why would I complain about that?”

In much the same way that the folk revival led to the rediscovery of obscure old bluesmen, hip-hop’s recycling of classic funk and soul has led to the rediscovery and appreciation of old session hands like Wilson. Recently he’s been working with an all-star group of jazz and funk players called Masters of Groove who’re coming to Lilli’s next Friday. The name’s no joke. Comprising Wilson on Hammond B-3 organ, legendary session man (with James Brown and Aretha Franklin among countless others) Bernard “Pretty” Purdie on the skins, jazz legacy Grant Green Jr. on guitar, and Tarus Mateen (Greg Osby, Goodie Mob) on bass, the Masters of Groove play an old-fashioned brand of soul jazz that mixes up deep boogaloo vamps with spidery hard-bop blowing. Their debut album, Masters of Groove Meet Dr. No (Jazzateria), finds them reworking the soundtrack to the first James Bond movie with the appropriate noir-cool vibe and lilting Caribbean rhythms. A mood of earthy familiarity prevails, as comforting and satisfying as a home-cooked meal.

Although it’s an old-fashioned sound, the Masters have a right to be retro. After all, Wilson (alongside guys like Donald Byrd and Lou Donaldson) pioneered the soul-jazz genre. “When I started playing,” he remembers, “I did straight-ahead jazz, but then guys like Stevie Wonder were coming out. I really liked their music, so my idea was to record pop music with jazz-type solos on it.” Adding funk was an obvious move: “The funky, bluesy flavor is always going to be something people like. It makes you feel good to play it, and it relates to your audience — any musician should strive for that.”

Lots of folks are following Wilson’s cue. The jam-band scene is littered with retro-funk acts these days (Soulive, Karl Denson), and that means that Wilson has been performing for the young ’uns. “Sometime I’ll play some straight-ahead jazz clubs for people my age,” he points out, “but when I do the pop scene, I’m probably playing for someone’s grandkids.”

Masters of Groove play Lilli’s, 608 Somerville Avenue in Somerville, next Friday, March 30. Call 591-1661.

BY MICHAEL ENDELMAN

Issue Date: March 22 - 29, 2001