POP MUSIC REVIEW : LeVert Brief but Intense in Free R&B; Concert

Time got so tight from drawn-out equipment changes at the Miller Sound Express concert Sunday afternoon that members of the vocal trio LeVert, the headliners, were warning the crowd about “having to cut it (the set) short” during the introduction to the group’s second song. But that logistical problem was the only real drawback to the free event before about 10,000 contemporary R&B; fans at Jackie Robinson Stadium near Dorsey High in Los Angeles.

This appearance was the second in a summer-long series of weekend concerts scheduled to bring the Sound Express semi-truck (which contains the stage) to outdoor locations around the country. It was a relaxed afternoon for the casually dressed crowd that ranged from toddlers to the middle-aged to sprawl on the football field, stroll around and check out a handful of T-shirts and food booths.

But much of the audience had left by the time LeVert reached the stage for a 20-minute set that compensated in intensity for the brevity. The blend of forceful hip- hop rhythms and the gruff Philly soul vocals of lead singer Gerald LeVert was a strong, crowd-pleasing combination. It helped that the trio’s four-song performance included “Casanova,” one of those classics that appeal to head, heart and hips in equal measure.

Second-billed Cherrelle miscalculated by including three ballads in her five-song, 30-minute set. The Minneapolis-based vocalist’s singing soared soulfully and her 10-piece backing band offered the day’s most sophisticated, ornate arrangements but the crowd was more eager to clap along to harder-edged funk tracks. Radiant realized that and made a favorable impression with an uptempo blend of go go-influenced funk spiced with limber dance moves.