Okay, the answer to the title question is no. But even if KC and his crew don’t fit the admittedly subjective “world music” label, they are most certainly a band that sparked my interest in music beyond the mainstream parameters of younger days. After all, KC (born Harry Wayne Casey) hails from the Miami metropolitan area, a place where all manner of musical influences can be absorbed. KC did just that, and his mix of funk, R & B and early disco remains, often subtly, reflective of it.
My wife and I recently had the opportunity to catch the band live, and memories of their celebratory sound came flooding back as we shook it among the older-leaning crowd. The chiming guitar tones of “Get Down Tonight” that I now hear in Congolese soukous were intact, as were the Latin tinges of “Boogie Shoes” and “Keep It Comin’ Love.” And it didn’t hurt that the band’s longest-standing member besides KC, Cuban percussionist Fermin Goytisolo, brought intricate rhythms from his land and elsewhere.
Although global gleanings weren’t obvious in every song, the communal spirit of one big dance party and the expertise of KC’s multi-ethnic players made the proceedings feel like the world was our oyster and the party could be happening almost anywhere on the planet.
The fact that the concert site was Costa Mesa, California’s Segerstrom Center for the Arts, a grandly spacious and well-appointed place, made it all the more festive. KC is a showman of the first order, joking easily about his no-longer-slim physique, dancing abundantly in spite of it and never failing to be completely gracious toward his audience.
At times, he would leave the stage to let the band jam and the backup dancers strut their stuff, creating a vibe not unlike what you’d see and hear at an event centered around, say, soca, highlife or Afrobeat. And the instrumental breaks the band laid down referenced styles as diverse as dub reggae and New Orleans second line.
So don’t file KC’s works alongside those of your favorite world music artists. But be assured that there are more worldly lessons learned in his music than might be readily obvious. (heykcsb.com)
Special thanks to Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
Author: Tom Orr
Tom Orr is a California-based writer whose talent and mental stability are of an equally questionable nature. His hobbies include ignoring trends, striking dramatic poses in front of his ever-tolerant wife and watching helplessly as his kids surpass him in all desirable traits.