Sinclair Leads a Evening of Righteous R&B; Revival

Nearly 30 years ago, John Sinclair was a pivotal figure at the nexus of rock ‘n’ roll and radical politics. As founder of the White Panther Party and manager of the seminal rock band MC5, Sinclair was a fervid iconoclast.

In the years since, Sinclair has moved from sloganeering into a career as poet, critic, musicologist and New Orleans-based deejay. On Sunday night at the House of Blues, he assumed the role of fiery evangelist as he led his band, the Blues Scholars, through a night of “R&B; verse.”

Using arrangements based on works of such notables as Ray Charles, Percy Mayfield and John Lee Hooker, the band--guitars, drums and four-piece horn section--pumped out exuberantly raggedy grooves while Sinclair, in a baritone growl somewhere between Wolfman Jack and Captain Beefheart, let loose with his distinctively charged incantations. His pieces ranged from celebrations of bluesmen Bukka White and Johnny Ace to a comical analysis of adulterous impulses.

Sinclair was given particularly strong support by an old comrade--MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer. The latter’s inspired guitar lines moved from teasingly sweet notes to jagged explosions of sound, echoing Sinclair’s degree of excitation. When the band took off on Sonny Rollins’ arrangement of “I’m an Old Cowhand,” with Kramer twanging away and Sinclair poking fun at Republicans, the results were as righteous and rousing as ever.