Fantastic Negrito
Alive!
***and1/2 out of *****
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The most recent release from Fantastic Negrito captures the artists free ranging live set. Directly titled Alive! the genre defying rocker conjures up his mix of soul/rock/funk and more over fifteen energetic tracks.
The GRAMMY winning, Oakland based artist recorded various shows over his recent tour compiling Alive! from stops in Europe and the United States. This multi concert cherry picking approach does not affect the flow of the album as things move from one genre to another with ease.
Opening with an ominous groove in White Stripes fashion with piano leads and crowds chanting along, "Honest Man" is a strong live album opener. The rock feel continues for the arena riffs that are reminiscent of Aerosmith's "Dream On" during "How Long?" while "Living With Strangers" has a bit of Black Sabbath DNA flowing throughout.
Fantastic Negrito (Xavier Dphrepaulezz) is an engaging performer who channels pieces of Prince, James Brown, and Angelo Moore as he commands the stage. He shouts out another influence, Sly Stone in the funk influenced rock of "Beat Salad" while the ripping "Plastic Hamburgers / Long Long Road" feels straight out of classic era P-Funk with a sprinkling of Jimi Hendrix riffs.
The live show is not all funky metal though as "Good Feeling" brings in a hoedown stomp and Sunday gospel feel to the party while that soulful vibes of "I Hope Somebody's Loving You" gets sweet and seductive while "California Loner" mixes heavy funk laden rock with soulful passages.
Dphrepaulezz and band, Bass Guitar/Vocals: Lily Stern, Lead Guitar/Vocals: Clark Sims, Keys/Vocals: Bryan Simmons, Drums: James Small, amp up the Sly/Prince feeling on "Working Poor" before letting it all hang out on album closer "Please Computer" which burns with power.
The album centerpiece though is Dphrepaulezz take on the old blues classic "In The Pines". After a passionate introduction that goes falsetto and soaring, before going street, Dphrepaulezz digs into the core song. At first it seems tossed off vocally, then he dives in hard and then keeps shifting singing styles and improvising lines. An extended round of excellent solos follows showing a talented band, who also get introduced, before Dphrepaulezz tries to start an odd crowd sing-a-long and other vocal styles.
This mix of serious to silly, talented to flippant, over the top to understated, sums up the artist in general. Fantastic Negrito Alive! showcases an engaging artist who can't contain his joy performing on stage.
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