On Music: Instant Vintage Live?
MUSIC COLUMN by Aamir Bermiss
About a year before I started writing articles for The Outside World,
I was stewing in the summer of 2001 with very little to listen to.
I had recently been shocked by the appalling attempt at a record
that Wyclef had released (Masquerade) and I was truthfully feeling
pretty low about my listening collection. A couple of albums helped
me out of that funk. One of them was Musiq Soulchild's second album,
Juslisen, and another was Raphael Saadiq's first solo effort: Instant
Vintage. True hardcore heads know the deal with Saadiq, former member
of Tony Toni Tone, Lucy Pearl, and one of the premier songwriter/producers
in the "neo-soul" genre. I knew him most intimately as
the co-writer of the D'angelo classics "Lady" and "Untitled." When
I heard that he was doing something on his own I was naturally very
excited. And no, dear reader, this story does not end in disappointment
and frustration; the album was good. Very good. Some of it was down-right
otherworldly. I expected a lot from his first album, but there was
no precedent for the creativity and beauty of Instant Vintage.
Of course Saadiq is old school: Tony Toni Tone was hip when I was
still in grade school, and back then R&B music was no crystal
stair. I don't pretend to not be ashamed of my having listened to
early 90's R&B. I know very few people outrageous enough to look
back on what they thought was good in '91 or '92 or '93 (or '94,
for that matter) and aren't at least a bit glad to be over that phase...I
know I am. Don't mistake me, Tony Toni Tone was no exception--R&B
was a resoundingly cheesy sort of music. I remember songs like "Anniversary," "Lay
Your Head On My Pillow" and "Loving You." I sang them;
I danced to them; I fawned over crushes on them. It was the music
of "love." And I don't mean to get off on a rant, but just
imagine how skewed one's perception of love must be if they were
brought up on the bread and butter of songs from cats like Tony Toni
Tone, Shy, Guy, and All-4-One.
I thank my lucky stars that Boyz II Men came along and sent me down another path. One that, while cheesy, was more progressive and aggressively musical. Though that is a story for another time and perhaps another place... Still, Tony Toni Tone was one of the better debaucheries of music from those days and I relate to them pretty well now. And I love what Saadiq has done with himself in recent years. His craft and creativity have grown and evolved and his music retains the same soul that made Tony Toni Tone stick out while achieving new levels of intricacy and experimentation. Instant Vintage was a beautiful album, solidifying that new sound and exploring the corners of the past. I hadn't listened to it for quite some time when I was in the music store and saw All Hits at the House of Blues a couple of weeks ago on the shelf under Raphael Saadiq. A live album?! I brought it home for a deep listening. The result, unfortunately, was neither satisfaction nor disappointment. It is a worthwhile recording to have for Saadiq fans (such as myself) but I don't think of it as a "good" record.
The album consists of two discs which are two concerts from a back-to-back engagement at the House of Blues in LA. The first disc begins with some solo work by Saadiq, then brings on some guests, and finally culminates in a kind of medley of Tony Toni Tone (with the other original members of the group). It starts impressively enough with the new material. The band is clearly cooking on "Body Parts," but as soon as Saadiq starts singing it's clear that the levels are kind of off. I don't often talk about recording techniques or sound quality when I review an album, but here the sound quality is so glaringly awkward that it ruins a lot of the musical intention. The placement of instruments in the mix is just a little unnatural and that leads to a flatter listening experience. This is forgivable because the repertoire is so engaging but when the album becomes a Tony Toni Tone review it just makes matters worse. Because of the repetitive (and, in my opinion, rather uninteresting) nature of songs in the early 90's it would be a mistake for Tony Toni Tone to do the full versions of each of the songs they chose to do. Instead, they do about a verse and chorus of each, tied together with some fairly hip instrumental work. This, I am sad to say, was boring for me. I knew the tunes and I'm sure that if I were at the concert I might have been really excited to hear songs from my childhood, but on CD it's very disengaging. Two minutes of every song is a real bore especially when the material could be fleshed out to be more hip for the new millennium. I was saddened by the first CD and this made me afraid to listen to the second. So I took some time and listened to other things. (when in the mood for having my aural palette cleansed and re-impressed upon I like to listen to Sun Ra. I highly recommend it if you ever find yourself in a similar bind).
I had a feeling that the second disc would be better. For one thing,
there are significantly fewer songs on the second disc and most of
them run for six minutes or more. In a live concert, I've often found
that longer tracks tend to be better for listening later. Also, they
are new songs from Instant Vintage, so I knew that Saadiq would be
stretching out a bit more and making something a little more sophisticated
on the second disc. Highlights are the last couple of minutes of "Still
Ray," "Blind Man" (which is a great song that is recreated
beautifully on stage), "Uptown," featuring the inimitable
Leslie Wilson, and of "Be Here" (where D'angelo joins Saadiq
for his verse and then takes the song home with him). If the second
disc alone were the live album I think it would be pretty cool. Or
at least if there were a few more songs done in the more careful
and musical fashion championed here.. I admit that I expected much
more from the monster band. They play the tunes very well, but they
don't stretch out much. I hate to compare, but listening to Jill
Scott's live album (from early 2001) is a much more satisfying experience.
It's good for a band to cook and get the heat really going but you
want that heat to have direction, purpose and curves. That virtuosity
seems to be missing from these concerts. Again the mix is very disorienting
to the mind and ear so it's a chore to just let the music wash over
you. Criticisms aside, keep and eye on Saadiq in the near future.
His outlook is very bright for the next couple of years. If he continues
to collaborate smartly, as he has in the past, I predict some very
serious additions to his claims to fame. For the time being, I find
it more entertaining to just pop in Instant Vintage and let that
play from start to finish. The reward is the unconscious bounce you
get in your step. Spring is around the corner and that means albums
will be dropping very soon; till then, listener beware.