Reagon Breaks Musical Boundaries With a Spirited, Forceful Show

“Congregational spirit means you forget that you paid money to get in here. . . . And you walk out of here a little different,” charismatic singer-songwriter Toshi Reagon said Tuesday as she roused the audience at LunaPark for some gospel-style participation.

It’s a good bet everyone did leave a little changed--even if just in their perceptions of musical boundaries. Washington-raised, New York-based Reagon, building a buzz with her recent “The Righteous Ones” album after more than 10 years of performing, showed in this Los Angeles debut that she sets her own standards.

Her roots are in the church-activism intersection of the civil rights movement--her parents were both in the seminal Freedom Singers, and her mother, Bernice Johnson Reagon, leads a veteran folk vocal group, Sweet Honey in the Rock. But she takes that heritage in distinctly personal directions, much as Ani DiFranco takes her folk-punk mix or MeShell Ndegeocello her soul-rock blend.

Reagon and singers Judith Casselberry and Catherine Russell were seated with acoustic instruments, but with a three-man rock band cranking it up behind them this was no subdued folk act. The earthy, forceful “There Are” recalled Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young at their fieriest. “For You” churned like folk singer Odetta backed by Crazy Horse. And there were references to Laura Nyro and hints of Al Green and Delta blues--without ever seeming derivative.

If Reagon made any miscalculation, it was stating that the changes she hopes to bring are subtle. She might be underestimating her own potential.