MUSIC REVIEWS : Blues Festival Provides Some of That Sweet Soul Music

At the All Star Blues Festival Saturday night at the Olympic Auditorium, which was really an R&B; show, a quintet of vets offered a stirring reminder of that sweet soul music as it once was--joyously passionate, euphoric, sad and raw, and far from the dehumanizing syrup that has infested the genre since the ‘80s.

The lineup at the Olympic included no musical giants, but former hit-makers--such as Johnny Taylor, Tyrone Davis, Clarence G. Carter, Denise LaSalle and Latimore--recreated the timeless sound rooted in American gospel and blues.

Headliner Johnny Taylor strolled on stage in a bright red jacket and shades, trailed by two female singer-dancers. With vocals that moved from a smooth rasp to near-hysterics, Taylor and his seven-man band played an hour of sophisticated soul, passing through romance-soaked ballads and energetic funk. But the performance by singer-guitarist Carter was the hit of the evening, with his gravel baritone, wicked guitar chops and comical tales of bedroom gymnastics. As Carter, with that booming Alabama drawl, resurrected such career hits as “Patches” and “Slip Away,” the crowd was often moved to sing along, caught up in his undeniable presence.

Likewise, LaSalle engaged the audience with tough-talking songs about love and life’s humors, sung with trembling emotion. Davis emerged later with a more controlled romantic delivery, crooning his old hits pleasantly enough, but without the fire of the most memorable R&B.;