Pop : Brown: Sunsplash’s Bright Spot

This year’s Reggae Sunsplash festival tour could be subtitled “One Old Dog and Some New Tricks.” And though reggae has long been in dire need of some new tricks, when Sunsplash opened its three-day stay at the Greek Theatre on Friday it was the old dog--Jamaican singer Dennis Brown--who with the most traditional set gave the best performance.

Brown isn’t actually that old, but having started as a reggae prodigy more than two decades ago, he has developed a masterful command of the style. Praising Jah and sporting long dreadlocks, the bearded Brown--backed like all the acts on the bill by the versatile and solid A-Team Band and Burning Brass--elevated the largely young, racially mixed crowd with a balance of romantic reggae soul and Rasta spirituality.

There’s a calm and patience to Brown’s brand of reggae--a style that has aged well, gaining the wisdom and character of experience. In contrast, Friday’s newer performers--Shinehead, Maxi Priest, Andrew Tosh and Little Lenny--seemed impatient, filling every hole in the music with some measure of musical or showy flash.

Shinehead, the Jamaican-born, Bronx-raised reggae-rapper, did show some noteworthy new tricks. A dynamic showman, rapper and singer, Shinehead--though relying too much on other people’s songs--showed a vision that could move him into uncharted territory for both rap and reggae.

Priest has also pushed reggae into new territory, commercially speaking: Last year his “Close to You” became the first Jamaican reggae song to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s pop singles chart. But with its limp beats and smooth soul singing, it’s barely reggae.

The Sunsplash package is scheduled to play the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert on Wednesday, the Open Air Theatre in San Diego on Friday and Saturday and the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa next Sunday.