Think Like A Key 2025
Getting high on life, American mystic immerses listeners into music of the spheres and brings it down to earth to celebrate his time-defying album.
Rainbow: The Anniversary Concert
That Bobby Callender isn’t spoken about in the same reverential tones as his fellow New Yorker Moondog should be considered one of the greatest injustices of contemporary culture. Although it wasn’t customary for black artists to cross over to lysergically influenced side of things in the late ’60s and early ’70s, this singer’s three platters, first and foremost “Rainbow” from 1968, laid down in the company of such remarkable instrumentalists as Hugh McCracken and Bernard Purdie, married Eastern and Western traditions most impressively. Chamber sweeps and exotic curlicues permeated with jazz passages and polished with rhythm-and-blues smoothness were mere elements in the blend of genres the almost-forgotten composer made fantastically organic. He may have vanished from the public eye decades ago, yet 2023 saw the veteran emerge from obscurity to grace an Orlando stage and finally perform his classics in front of an in-house crowd and, via a livestream, of the world at large.
Something Callender never attempted back in the day, it’s been worth the wait, because what sounded dainty on record became vigorous, albeit just as elegantly nuanced, when it was delivered in the moment – as is perfectly preserved for posterity in this audiovisual package. Resplendent in a sparkling golden robe and matching headscarf and still possessed of an immensely supple, silky voice, Bobby’s blinding the listeners with more than with his attire, as he runs through the entire album to emphasize how relevant the 55-years-old numbers are today. Surrounded by distinct groups of instrumentalists – a string quartet, a Hindustani duo and a piano, and a rock trio – who seem to be as spellbound as the audience that the chanteur, gesticulating, regularly calls to join the action and whose different sonic palettes create a wholesome mélange, he works miracles here. From the titular opener – where sitar and tabla first meet cello, electric guitars and drums – to “Little Star” which got added to the set to serve as a farewell, it’s an immersive experience, and no wonder Robert’s describing his songs as stories: they’re constantly on the move.
While “Sade Masoch” demonstrates an astonishing marriage between raga and reggae, or rocksteady, the cathedral-solemn “Mother Superior” sees the singer transform into a suave lounge warbler despite his unsuitable-for-ballroom garb, and “A Man” finds him move towards improvisatory waters as if to defy this piece’s social commentary and make it so infectious that even one of the violinists will start to snap her fingers. Occasionally conducting such a motley ensemble, most effectively on “Symphonic Pictures” with its sophisticated rhythms, Callender would go for majestic, mesmeric preaching to turn “Nature” into a trippy mantra, “I’m Just High On Life” into a transcendentally groovy journey to the center of the mind, and “Autumn” into a magnificent ballad with a Brooklyn aroma and spicy klezmer interlude. “The Flow Within Thee” takes Bobby to the folksy pastures, however, but a pure prayer “Spiritual Chant Of Thankfulness” highlights his upbeat spirituality.
There are no between-song banter on CD, yet, captured on DVD, his brief speeches render the overall outing more immediate, although it’s music, not musings, that drives the utter wonder of the “Rainbow” concert: brought alive, the old album’s shining ever brighter.
*****
