Khaled and Players Mix Rock and Rai

Cheb Khaled may be known as the “King of Rai,” but the music he played at Universal Amphitheatre on Thursday had as much to do with jazz, rock and the blues as with traditional Algerian music.

Which was not really surprising, since the evolution of rai somewhat paralleled the growth of blues, jazz and rock in this country. But Khaled, expanding upon instrumental changes in rai that emerged in the ‘60s, has gone further, creating a version of rai that finds appealing connections between seemingly disparate styles. A good half of the numbers he performed in his lengthy set used a powerful rhythm team and a stirring, three-man horn section playing crisp, driving arrangements reminiscent of Chicago or Tower of Power.

Other pieces settled into solid rock or R&B; grooves, often featuring soaring guitar solos and a tenor saxophonist playing in best, honking King Curtis style. Yet, remarkably, the placement of Khaled’s passionate vocals in these unexpected settings made for utterly fascinating music.

Khaled was charismatic, strolling the stage, interacting with the musicians and dominating everything with his rich, dark-toned voice, which moved easily from the ornamentation of traditional Algerian style into sudden, rumbling explosions from his booming baritone.

The audience, completely involved, spent every minute on its feet, dancing in the aisles, and--at the end--swarming toward the stage for a last-minute contact with rai’s best-known artist.

Unfortunately, the event only managed to fill half the Amphitheatre--the attendance was also affected, perhaps, by the fact that Khaled’s inclusion of Western musical forms does not please religious fundamentalists. And that’s too bad, because Khaled and his players had the kind of musical stuff that should have had the place packed.