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CDs of the Week – August 2002 JOHN BROWNS BODY, "SPIRITS ALL AROUND US" (Shanachie) "Crow Jim." In the late 1950s and early 1960s, that is what Ralph J. Gleason called the idea that only black artists could really play jazz. By "Crow Jim" he meant a kind of reverse racism, one that posited certain types of music (i.e., jazz) could only be played by people with certain skin pigmentation. It is an appalling and wrong-headed idea, but one that can still be heard almost half-a-century later around some types of music, such as reggae. The racially-mixed unit from Ithaca and Boston will disabuse you of the notion that white folks cant play some of the rootsiest, skankiest reggae beats around. John Brown's Body plays reggae with a jam sensibility; despite the fact they have strong songs and good harmonies they also can stretch a groove out a ways when they want to. The band never falls into recycled, Rasta platitudes, instead delivering heart-felt conscious lyrics with the roots rock reggae groove. Even the group's name leads one to challenge racialist notions. John Brown was a white man who led armed attacks against slavery in the 1850s, including the ill-fated raid at Harper's Ferry, that eventually cost his life, as well as the lives of his sons. |
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