POP REVIEW : Benefit Portends a New Musical Melting Pot

If the new Ash Grove can draw the diverse crowd that turned up at the second night of the tribute/benefit for the one-time local institution Sunday at the Wiltern Theatre, the new club could indeed take the same role in L.A. culture of the ‘90s that its earlier incarnation held in the ‘60s.

The audience--folk and blues devotees mixing with yuppies and even multicolor-haired rockers--reflected the Ash Grove’s melting-pot concept every bit as much as the performers who took the stage for often electrifying gospel, blues and “future roots” portions.

The potential of such contrasts was made clear right from the start of the program, when blues belter Barbara Dane joined the gospel Chambers Brothers and reminisced that when they first recorded together in 1965, the idea of a white woman performing with black men was revolutionary.

The like continued throughout the three hours plus. There was 72-year-old blues great Willie Dixon beaming as his grandson Alex, 13, played piano, and then shaking the house with his classic, sexual-boasting Chicago blues; the Bernie Pearl Blues Band backing a parade of veteran blues figures who demonstrated the many shades of blues music; Dave Alvin and Peter Case proving that folk and blues traditions are quite vibrant today; and finally the folk-funk Beef Sisters and raucous R & B-based Antja Mimes pointing at future musical hybrids.

All that was missing was the kind of spontaneous mix-and-match jams that would have made this a true melting pot rather than just a multicourse dinner (albeit a tasty one).

One troubling note: As diverse as the crowd was, not all on hand--especially some of the hard-core blues fans--seemed especially tolerant of the newer musical directions on display. Looks like Ash Grove founder Ed Pearl has a challenge ahead of him if the new club is going to live up to the old Ash Grove’s legacy.