I don't know his career that well really, except for the "hits," but do I
listen to the plangent 1994 SPIRITS album over and over again, and I think
it's pretty deep. Whether that means he's funky or not is another question
of course; I get into all kinds of shit that isn't funky. Here's some
thoughts on the man in the 90s.=20
On SPIRITS, he really takes his time and luxuriates in a ... nostalgic?
pathos all the way through -- which is funky in at least one sense, I
guess. By the time you hit the three-part (and I think beautiful) "Other
Side" elegy, the earlier 9-minute title track starts seeming poppily
succinct by comparison. ;-)
The preachy rambling of the Spoken Word pieces could strike you as either
damn-fool doddering or soulful sententiousness. The Gulf War anti-rap "Work
for Peace" has a message that is both obvious and confused, yet it still
speaks to me in a strange way. But how today can something like this be
presented as anything other than high camp (I keep imagining a house full
of 19-year-olds jerking to the beat with faint misapprehension sloshing
around the backs of their minds)?
I get a kick out of listening to his characterful baritone, or whatever it
is, all drenched with mannerist world-weariness, and I don=92t even mind whe=
n
it babbles down from the (occasionally effective) satirical sixties
senility of the opening poetry to the neo-callow Spoken Word downright
raving of the closing. I=92m reminded of some lyrics by Qu=E9b=E9cois pop gr=
oup
Beau Dommage from the 70s here: "On est d=92accord pour n=92importe quelle
revolution, / A condition qu=92elle se dance" ("We=92re up for any revolutio=
n,
/ As long as you can dance to it"). The revolution will not be=
turntable-ized.
I guess I see him as a cheesy jazz-soul Godfather like Roy Ayers, only more
so. You either celebrate or ignore these guys, but you can't disrespect em.
I think he's beautiful, myself. Sorry if this response is a little on the
wordy, over-intellectualized side; that's the mood I'm in this morning.
Work for Peace. ;-))
jimX