BLK JKS

Vowels In Space or The Rainbow Is The Journey

Sandwiched in a full night (including rehearsals for m a r s p r o j e c t and the Dearling Physique tour sendoff at the Kitty Kat Club) I managed to squeeze in to the Cedar Cultural Center for the kickoff of the Global Roots Festival which opened tonight with South African band BLK JKS . The quartet covered only 4 tracks in the half hour that I was there, but it was a thick cut of reverb and accumulated noise punctuated by sharp guitars over roiling drums and an expert conglomeration of styles that made obvious things western bands have been stealing for the last couple decades.

The set opened with a layers of feedback and drone that drummer Tshepang Ramoba broke open with bass and skittering snare and lead guitarist Lindani Buthelezi topped off with Hendrix-like licks (ok, so maybe the western world has that one). Guitarist Mpumelelo Mcata, with his hair piled under a tiny fedora, kept the downtime moving with a running commentary as the other musicians noodled. Before moving into “Molalathladi”, Mcata’s metaphysical observations ran the gamut from exhortations of unity (“We are all in this space together!”) to the valedictory meanings of the song (“This is about the rainbow. Not about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but about the journey of the rainbow.”) “Molalathladi” had great call and response rhythms internally and syncopated licks on an acoustic guitar from Buthelezi which made it clear what Dave Matthews has been trying to do for all these years.

BLK JKS played “Lakeside” next, the title track from their 2007 international debut, that started with getting the audience to provide the backing vocals, creating an effect not dissimilar to the wail and hum backing TV On The Radio’s single “Province” from Return to Cookie Mountain. The song metamorphosed with abrupt rhythmic breaks and melodic shifts and the crowd, who had started the set standing mostly still, started swaying more heavily and deeply, making me wish that I could have stayed later, because this was the kind of music with the strength and breadth to go deep into the night.

The Cedar website pitches the Global Roots Festival saying that “Conventions of rock, hip hop, jazz, and music from many cultures are blended. Barriers are crossed both geographically and stylistically.” Nothing could be more true of BLK JKS, and it was well worth the taste. The festival runs through the weekend, with the obvious highlight being this Saturday’s performance by Brazilian giants of tropicalia and avant-rock, Os Mutantes. With the economy as it is, this is the best international vacation this fall.