Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Ozomatli, Blackalicious & Saul Williams

Prior to this evening, the only act on the Sno Core Icicle Ball bill I was familiar with was Saul Williams. A few years ago, I had the pleasure of hearing some of his spoken word poetry. The night held great promise when I found out his band would be opening for the others.
With a cello, bass, guitar and drums in the background, Saul Williams spit out the type of thought-provoking cadence he is known for. His method of vocal delivery would alternate between spoken word and a more classic style of rap. Saul's lyrics mingle the spiritual with the political. "Om Nia Merican" was about the responsibility that comes with power. Overall, the band's sound has one foot firmly rooted in hip-hop. The guitarist gave the songs a real psychedelic flair, though, and the cello gave each composition an orchestral quality. After about an hour they made way for the next act.
Hailing from Northern California, Blackalicious has been making waves in the urban underground for a while now. Gift of Gab, one of the two MCs, busted rhymes like nobody's business. Blackalicious also had a DJ and a chorus line of three. The latter provided a soulful backdrop to the funky hip-hop beats and tag team style of vocal delivery. Towards the end, they held a freestyle session. Here, the MCs had a sort of symbiotic relationship with the crowd. It seemed like the louder it got, the harder and faster they flowed. Everybody got really riled up, though, when Ozomatli came on.
The recent Grammy winners made their way through the crowd to get to the stage, all while banging on cowbells and various percussion instruments. The result was pandemonium. On this particular night, Ozomatli was 10 deep. Their music is hard to describe, but it contains elements of jazz, hip-hop, Latin, funk and salsa. It's fast-paced and vibrant, with politically charged lyrics. One good song, "Timido," had a rumba feel. The crowd was so into it the floor was shaking. Afterwards, they left the same way they came in: through the crowd. Half the people followed them out. Unfortunately, many of them never came back to see the headlining band perform.
Karl Denson's Tiny Universe has a jazzy, funky feel The song are long and instrumental. There's some singing, but not much. There were two sets of drums going at the same time, which gives them complex beat structures. "Family Tree" was punctuated by intervals in which only one or two instruments would be playing, such as the saxophone and trumpet. Then, the other instruments would join back in, casually returning to the initial orchestral sound. Overall they played well and I hope to see them again someday.
- Ryan Mungia
- Photo by Alyssa Starkey

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