Chuck Brown @ Prospect Park 7/30/11

I may not have seen Chuck since Tramps closed.  It was good.  I was dancing and into it.  I wasn't clear on the timing before I went.  I got there around 7:40 and left a little after 8:30 and they were on the whole time.  I would like to have stayed for some of Dr. John but I needed a real bathroom and didn't want to wait in a long line.  I like Dr. John, it just wasn't worth "the tragedy of the commons", the economics theory that says when it's free it tends to be more crowded.  Although, Dr. John tends to pull a big crowd.  Prospect Park IS really nice.  I just wasn't in the mood for all the talkers and the crowd.  I definitely enjoyed Chuck Brown, although I don't think I would go out of my way to see them again

It's only a matter of time before I get to Red Baraat.


http://www.bricartsmedia.org/events/dr-john-the-lower-911-with-chuck-brown-and-red-baraat

Affectionately known as the Godfather of Go Go, Chuck Brown’s notorious combination of Latin beats, African call and response chants, and American Jazz led to a unique sound coming out of Washington D.C in the 1970s; “I got sick and tired of watching people sitting around,” Brown says, “Disco was too fast—people didn’t want to get all sweaty, and they just sat down. So we cut the beat in half.” Brown called this new sound Go Go, “because it never stops.”  Brown’s albums have topped the charts, and his mid-80’s album Go Go Swing was released to international acclaim.

Led by Dholi Sunny Jain, Red Baraat is the first and only Dhol ‘n’ Brass band in North America, melding North Indian rhythm Bhangra with brass funk.  The NYC-based big band improvises a powerful live sound, comprised of dhol (a double-sided, barrel-shaped North Indian drum slung over one shoulder), drumset, percussion, sousaphone and five horns.  Mixing originals and Bollywood favorites, Red Baraat has performed internationally from the Montreal Jazz Festival to Lincoln Center and the group’s debut album Chaal Baby was realeased on Sinj Records in 2010.