Stew, Rodewald and Various Artists: Passing Strange(Ghostlight)Always impressed and never bowled over by the auteur's albums, I onlycaught his musical after this original cast recording hit me like noStew or Negro Problem CD ever had. Two clues emerge in the guitared-up"Prologue": first "If you're ever not sure what I'm all about/Just askthe song," then "Since it's my job I'ma set the scene." Music assurrogate self, music as daily occupation--if Stew never shone asbrightly as he had to on his own records, his craftsman's approach tohis lifework was why. But these limitations feed into this amusing,moving, sophisticated, less than profound Broadway show about racialidentity and art for art's sake. Stew the narrator expresses himselfmore subtly and forcefully than he ever did as mere persona--thedistance frees him up. Similarly, two songs that satirize themselves,the Afro-hardcore "Sole Brother" and the Euro-anarchist "What's InsideIs Just a Lie," pack straightforward power. But in the end, there'sonly one standard: "Keys," a celebration of the occasional kindnessesof the bohemia where this 47-year-old African-American has spent hisadult life.A MINUS
Sean Kingston-Sean Kingston Full Album Zip
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