POP MUSIC REVIEW : A Wide Range of Reggae

Yellowman and Freddie McGregor headlined the fourth annual California Reggae Splash concert at Cal State Dominguez Hills Sunday. But the event’s salient characteristic was the range of the reggae spectrum reflected by the artists who appeared earlier on the eight-hour bill.

The area debut of the Ariwa Posse featuring deejay Macka-B and the Robotiks Band was a resounding triumph of razor-sharp humor--Macka-B (tongue in) cheekily took credit for Margaret Thatcher’s resignation in one song, and tossed a few bars of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” into “Me No Wanna Big Mac.” And their transformations of current events into compelling narratives cut through the early afternoon lethargy.

The reunion of the I-Threes--Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths--was dispiriting and soulless. Their gospel/soul-rooted harmonies were consummately professional, but the slick revue format--a few numbers together and two solo features apiece--seemed better suited for the Kingston Hilton.

Earlier, ex-Bad Brains singer HR’s metal-edged reggae failed to rouse the audience of about 9,000. During their occasionally diverting 15-minute sets, Japan’s Nahki showed he had absorbed the speedy patter and crotch-thrusting aspects of the deejay style, vocalist Foxy Brown didn’t stray from the slow tempos of her hit versions of Tracy Chapman’s “Sorry” and “Fast Car,” and Jamaican deejay Johnny P played the stud, capping his set with mock sex play with four female volunteers from the audience.