POP MUSIC REVIEW : Jazz-Funk Fest at Occidental a Sloppy Affair

Occidental College’s amphitheater is a lovely setting for an evening of jazz and hip-hop, but the music itself at Saturday’s Jazz-Funk Festival isn’t likely to linger in anyone’s dreams.

The problems stretched from the sloppiness of the Pharcyde to the clumsiness of Branford Marsalis’ Buckshot LeFonque.

That’s too bad because BRASS--the promotion team that sponsored the concert--has been a valuable force in the acid-jazz club scene here for years and it could enrich the L.A. music scene by spreading its multiethnic musical celebration to a larger platform.

The Pharcyde seemed a good choice to headline. At Lollapalooza ’94 two weeks ago, the likable L.A. quartet proved a formidable team with its disarming street-life observations.

In the opening moments Saturday, however, the members interrupted each other and missed lyrics and cues. Things did become more focused, eventually serving up one of the most amusing lines in hip-hop-- Ya mama’s got a glass eye with a fish in it .

Ultimately, though, the set unraveled again with novelty rapper Tone-Loc and everyone in sight passing the mike in an MC free for all. This kind of improvised free-styling can sometimes be exciting, but this was simply chaos.

Buckshot LeFonque, a jazz/hip-hop group that was a last-minute addition to the show, only performed two songs, with saxophonist Marsalis explaining that he only found out about the gig two days before and couldn’t even get all the regular band members together for it. From what we heard, he might have been better off staying home.

The Solsonics, a Hollywood funk ‘n’ jazz ensemble that followed opening sets by sometimes inventive Greyboy All-Stars and the conventional Cleveland Lounge, proved the evening’s main troupers, entertaining the half-filled venue with a stylish dash of music that is strongly groove-oriented, yet soulful.