Sister Carol Sings Joyful Reggae With Pop, Soul Accents
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If Sister Carol ever tires of reggae--and nothing about her sunny performance Thursday at the Galaxy Theatre in Santa Ana suggested she ever will--she could turn to rap, literally without missing a beat.
Her impeccable rhythmic sense--skillfully mixing cadences and alternating machine-gun-like bursts with abrupt pauses that heighten their impact--has long been one of her two chief weapons for warding off the monotony that has sunk many a reggae performer.
The other weapon is a deliciously varied musical palette. After growing up in one of the poorest sections of West Kingston, Jamaica, then moving in the early ‘70s with her family to Brooklyn when she was a young teen, she infuses the reggae basics with jolts of American soul and R&B;, along with dollops of West African pop.
On Thursday, she drew heavily from her new album, “Isis,” which maps an impressive musical and lyrical expanse from straightforward celebrations of the joys of music to socially and politically charged messages such as “Rasta Girl,” an ode to the inescapable logic of female empowerment.
(Those messages were sometimes obscured Thursday by a bottom-heavy sound mix that overwhelmed her vocals.)
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Sister Carol plays Sunday at the Key Club, 9039 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, 8 p.m. $15. (310) 786-1712.
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