THE BEAT
Vinx, Jaime Morton, Carol Noonan
by Seth Rogovoy(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., March 20, 1997) --
Vinx: One-man band
The list of Vinx's credits reads like a who's who of contemporary pop. His first professional gig as a percussionist was with Taj Mahal. >From there he toured and recorded with the likes of Rickie Lee Jones, Teena Marie, Toni Childs, Herbie Hancock, Sheryl Crow, Branford Marsalis, Peter Gabriel, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Cassandra Wilson, Spin Doctors, Cracker, Gin Blossoms and Me'Shell Ndege'Ocello. Perhaps his greatest exposure came when that other one-named musical wonder, Sting, hired Vinx for a world tour on which he was the opening act and a backup musician. Then Sting signed him to his record label.Vinx is also a world-class athlete who qualified for the Olympics in 1980 and 1984 (in '80 the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Olympics and in '84 an injury kept Vinx from competing). He is also an actor, a children's book author and a painter who has had his own gallery shows.
Vinx has also had his share of more serious setbacks, however. While still a teen-ager outside of Kansas City, Vinx and his family were burned out of their house in a racially-motivated arson, in which Vinx suffered severe burns to his back and legs. And in 1989, while visiting Vinx's grandmother in Detroit, his father was mugged and killed by a gang.
The complexity of all these experiences are presumably channeled into Vinx's music. As heard on "Lips Stretched Out" (H.O.E.), his recent CD, he is a one-man band, a vocalist and percussionist who crosses silky-smooth, Al Jarreau- like singing with Olatunji-like African- derived rhythms. The CD is an eclectic mix of contemporary soul grooves, Afro-Brazilian pop and jazzy, new jack swing, with spare arrangements built on Vinx's vocals and percussion, with occasional touches of guitar or keyboards. You can catch Vinx doing his live thing on Friday night at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown at 8, when he will open the show for African folk performer Samite. Call 458-2303 x. 505 for more information.
Jaime Morton: Honeyed soul
"That Wild Blue" (Emerald City), Jaime' Morton's most recent recording, reveals the Northampton-based musician to be a songwriter and performer of great distinction. While sitting comfortably alongside the likes of peers such as Dar Williams, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones and Deb Pasternak, Morton has a sound all her own. She boasts a rich, jazzy voice drenched in honeyed soul, and her unique open tunings lend her songs an organic complexity. Producer Adam Rothberg -- a Pittsfield native best known for handling Dar Williams's debut and Bernice Lewis's most recent album -- wisely chose to highlight these two elements in the mix, to which he also contributed bass, guitars and other instruments.Williams is on hand to lend her Story-like harmonies on a few cuts, as are Ellis Paul and other members of the Northampton folk mafia. But no one overshadows Morton or her songs, which tend to focus on people in moments of intense emotional challenge -- whether it's the driver who shuts off her headlights and imagines herself Amelia Earhart in "Amelia," the woman who rakes herself over the coals after a one- night stand in "Not Forgiven," or the sexy temptress of "Rust." A protege of David Wilcox who also counts Joan Armatrading as a strong influence, Morton is a true, contemporary-folk original, and can be heard live on Sunday at Milltown Studios in North Adams at 6, as part of the Music on Main Street series. Singer-songwriter Robin Lehleitner of Williamstown is scheduled to warm up the crowd for Morton. For more info call 662-5770.
Carol Noonan: Folk-rock mama
Carol Noonan has slowly been amassing a steady following in Boston and throughout the Northeast for the way she mixes her rock 'n' roll vocalizing with her folk-based compositions. In the great tradition of groups such as Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span, Noonan grafts a contemporary soul- and blues-belting approach onto classically-styled balladry, such as that heard on her most recent CD, the Carol Noonan Band's "Noonan Building and Wrecking" (Philo). The Maine native first achieved notice in the band Knots and Crosses. In 1995 she went solo, fronting her own band which at times comes across like a New England version of Booker T. and the MGs. Noonan is at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Friday, March 21, at 7, on a double bill with singer- songwriter Greg Greenway.[This column originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on March 20, 1997. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1997. All rights reserved.]
Seth Rogovoy
rogovoy@berkshire.net
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