MUSIC

B.B. KING with Millie Jackson & Bobby'Blue'BlandThe Celebrity Theater, April 2 by Pat Kramer

Y n what was his strongest,

I mostanimatedshowina'longI- time, "King of the Blues"B,B. King played to a sold-outcrowd at Anaheim's CelebritYTheatr€, in the first of two L.A.areashows. King was preceded bY

singers Bobby "Blue" Bland andMillie Jacksott, for shows thatcombioed tbe best of eachperformer's styles, resulting in acohesive night of music that builtin intensity.

The dapper Bobby "Blue" BIandstaned the night's entenainmentwith a rvonderfully, flirtatious set

with a cool, begging style ofsing-ing the blues. In his sweet, clearvoice the crooner directed the lyr-ics of his songs at women in thefront rows, often with hilariousresults: in one song, beseeching awoman aa to why she had donehim wrong, in another asking awoman ifshe were singleandwhather problem was.

Bland's band, led by trumPetplayer Joeeph llardin, provideddramatic overdriveto the 63-year-old singers' selections, keepingthe show moving during the z{)-

minute set.As cool as Bland was, Millie

Jackson was all sizzle, with a verysexy, powerdriven bravado thatwas heavy on audience dialogueand equally strong on talent.Millie's show challenged the men

in the audience, directing herlove-scomed blues lyrics at them, oftenwith racy dialogue to boot!

A captivating performer, Jack-son is also very versatile. Her showfeatured an exceptional Tina

Turner impesonation, a "funked-out" version of Merle Eaggard's"Go Your Separale Way" arld aneogaging duet with keyboardistDouglas Knight called "Yor.tgMan, OUer \Vonan." Knight'sgospel-tinged vocals added depthto the song, as the two acted out avery conviocing display of lovCand devotion that ended Jackson'sshow in an arresting and moststimulating fashion.

As smooth as Bobby was, and as

provocative as Millie was, B.B.was just as dynamic. From themoment he took the stage, to a

standing ovation from the house,B.B. King wasreadytoplay, jumping in for a full kilter version of*l*t the Good Times Roll." Theshow featured a laid-back selec-tion of many of his best unes,including his GrammY Awardwinning "?ia Thrill is Gone,""PaJing the Costto be the Boss,"

"Guess I've Got to Move Out oJMy Neighborhood," "Havc YouEvcr Had the Blucs," and selec-

tions from his new albumThere isAlwavs One More Time,

King's band added additionalflair, especially 15-year band vet-eran James Bolden, whose color-ful trumpet playing and energizeddancing got the audience to theirfeet to shimmy and shake. At onepoint, Kirig stood up and shim-mied back at an anractive womandoing a sultry dance in the frontrow. Other high moments of theshow included lke Turner's appearance on stage, after B.B. an-

nounced Ike and Larry Davis werein the audience.

About halfway through theshow, King got serious for a mo-ment, as he dedicated a song tofriends he made during his 42-year career who have now passedon. The list included MuddyWaters, Howlh' Wolf, StevieRay Vaughn. Miles Davis,Albert King and Doc Pomus.

Now age 67, B.B. King showsno signs of slowilg down, withanother tour coming up this sum-mer and his new album, Zgg-lbAlw a! s On e More Time. a record-ing which King refers to as "thebest album I've recorded in mycareer." His career has coveredfour decades, during which timeKing has rolled with music indus-try changes and managed to suc-ceed at playing a style of music,not traditionallyeommercial in na-

ture. With his own star on theHollywood Walk of Fame, a Life-time Achievement Award, fourGrammy's, four Honorary Doc-torates and numerous endorse-ments by popular, contemporaryartists, King is perhaps the moslcommercially successful blackartist in blues history.

As a guitarist- King adds a flairto the simplest songs, dressing eachup with a flurry ofnotes and scales.As a singer, he can be fiery orsoulful, putting on a show forAnaheim fans that was hard-driv-ing, intimate, and imaginative. I

.h Muslc NorEscontinued from page 26

Designed with kids in mind,Epic Records has announced anew collection of nurseryrhymes set to slammin' hip-hopbeats. Rap Rl.rzles brings thehip sound of the street to classicnursery rhymes hke "One, Tvo'Buckle My Shoe," "Mary,Mary Quite Contrary," and"The House That tack Built,"by offering versions of tradi-tional childrcn's songs by ToneLoc, Mellowman Ace, KidFrost, and others.

The project is the brainchildof veteran talent agent and artistmanager Mike Gardner' whoalso served as the project'sexecutivc producer. SaysGardner, "No one talks aboutthe socially positive side of rap.I thing this record will getacross the fact that not all hip-hop is about violence and pro-fanily." No, some of it can be

about learning your ABCs hip-hop style. I

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@iiiffisli"PAGE2TENTERTAINMIMIOOAY AI'RII 9, 1993

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