BIG IDEAS

Photo by Sam Devonish

With only a couple of days notice, at least 100 of Washington DC’s Black political and social elite ponied up $250 to get out of work on a Friday afternoon, tilt back a few drink, eat sushi and wait patiently for the appearance of Jeffrey Wright and the main draw, Maxwell, who was playing at DC’s Verizon Center hours later.

The occasion was a quickie fundraiser for Wright’s Taia Foundation, which funds infrastructure development in Western Africa - specifically and 18 mile stretch of road that will facilitate the transport of good and services and spur economic development.

Not that anyone knew that before they gave the money. But it was Friday, it was in the middle of the day and it was Maxwell. And in DC, that’s reason enough. In that city, if you want to stay on “the list”, sometimes you just write the check.

Blogging the BET Awards. ALL TIMES IN CENTRAL TIME when noted, so don’t fuss at me about inaccuracy.

5pm CST: Opening of the Red Carpet - Hey are my kids going to able to watch this. Booty shots from the jump. TIVO button. Kids, go work on your workbooks.

6:15 (or so): Arsenio Hall - Good to see. Good words. Important to hear of Michael Jackson’s sense of humor. Interesting that MTV has been very quiet about the fact that no Black artists got airplay before Michael. Even more interesting that it’s being said frequently by folks on BET, another child of the same Viacom corporate parent as MTV.  That actually speaks well, oddly enough, of Viacom in terms of creative freedom.

6:30 CST:  Debra Lee. Looking pretty hot. “Michael watched out for BET and made sure we got videos at the same time as MTV.”  Good for Mike.

6:46:  Who? More booty. Kids out of the room so I ain’t that mad at ‘em. Edited lyrics? Why put him on?

7pm: New Edition. Good to see. Performance? -Meh.

7:26: Ne-Yo. Good for you, brother. Well done version of Lady in My Life.

7:32: From reports - Michael Jackson’s father appeared on the red carpet before the BET Awards ceremony Sunday night, saying he has “a lot of concerns” about the last moments of his son’s life and personal physician.

“I have a lot of concerns,” Joe Jackson told CNN’s Don Lemon. “I can’t get into that, but I don’t like what happened.”

7:35: Jamie “Blame it on the Alcohol”. Really one of my favorite songs right now, and I’m not a huge fan of most of what I hear on regular radio, but it rocks undeniably. HOWEVER, Auto Tune does NOT translate well live. Also, noticing that Jamie Foxx, while a good performer, stalks the stage Chris Rock-like back and forth - the way a standup comic does.  Not as effective in a musical performance. Eyes need to focus when you’re listening.

8pm: Beyonce singing Ave Maria in a… hey, what is that anyway? Kinda Victoria’s Secret, kinda angelic, kinda slutty wedding dress, kinda Marilyn Monroe with the dress blowing up - cute

9pm: Tweet. Facebook. Blog. Tweet. Tweet. Vodka. Facebook. Wait. Blog. Why am I doing this again?

9:01pm: Jay Z. Death of Auto Tune. Guitar player plays like Bobby Womack on “Nobody Wants You When You’re Down & Out”. Thanks you, Jay for a real band and real music

9:15: Did somebody say Tevin Campbell?

9:20: Tyrese Gibson makes OJays tribute all worth it.

9:28: Passing around on Twitter: “I wish BET died and Michael Jackson was doing a tribute to it.” - Classic

9:29: Don Cornelius, love you brother. Sharper than a tack, but man, you gotta get off stage.

9:50: Idris Elba and Sherrie Shephard. How many women are hating on Sherrie right now?

9:52: Debra Lee thanking Joe Jackson on behalf of BET. Finally, it’s looking like an actual tribute to Michael. Oops, wait.  Maybe not. This is the Humanitarian Award for Wyclef and Alicia Keys.

10:30: Really? Seriously? Drake & Lil Wayne and a bunch of 12 year olds. Have you noticed the increasingly long breaks between posts? Switching back and forth to True Blood. Is is really worth it to put a group on live that you have to use the 7-second delay for?

10:37: Did I miss the Michael Jackson tribute? Or was that the opening act only?

10:38: You know what, I’m done. Life’s too short. Goodnight.

10:39: OK. I’m back. Janet Jackson in the house: ” My entre family wanted to be here tonight but it was too painful. To you Michael was an icon. To us he’s family. But he will forever live in all of our hearts…”

There were rumors earlier of a Janet performance, but not to happen.

10:40: The tribute starts: “I’ll Be There” sung by Jamie Foxx and Ne-Yo to solo piano with a photo montage in the backdrop. Nice. Stop there. They did. Good. Now goodnight.

This group, Born Jamericans, has the dubious distinction of being the first very musical group I ever interviewed. Way back in 1993 when i had just launched a magazine in DC called ONE. Great memories. Cool kids as I recall. I really liked their music, but they just had the absolutely wrong marketing engine behind them. The group name didn’t help either.

Too far under the radar has been the Reunion Tour of the seminal 80’s ska band, The Specials, shown here on Live with Jools Holland. Best of all they look and sound incredible for a band celebrating basically the 30th anniversary of its initial success.

No word yet on a U.S. leg of the tour.

The definition of musical bliss? A tour featuring Fishbone, The Specials and The Selecter.

Sometimes there are songs that you love but really don’t feel comfortable admitting in public that they move you for whatever reason. “Sailing” by Christopher Cross is one of mine. But this is another - Captain of Her Heart, by the German soft-jazz group, DOUBLE.

But I must confess to this one. I liked this song the first time I heard it. Moreover, the full album is really very good. For a solid summer, that album and Tears for Fears’ “Shout” were every day staples on my turntable. So much for being cool.

Apparently, even though there are many decent cover bands around the country, no band I’ve seen in person or on You Tube seems to be able to get one particular rock song right: Living Colour’s Cult of Personality. I suppose, like a lot of Led Zeppelin’s tunes, it’s just one of those tunes that look a lot easier on paper and in theory than when you have to strap yourself in and amplify it.

A while ago I put up a bunch of bass players trying to rip Larry Graham, and some did better than others. These folks trying to channel Vernon Reid are all pretty universally not that great. But good efforts all around. Back to Guitar Hero, folks. For a reminder, I put the real thing at the end.