By: David Schultz

Ben Harper has an unquestionable skill for creating distinctly different moods with his music. On his most recent double album, Both Sides Of The Gun, Harper separated his intimate acoustic songs from his electric, band-oriented material by relegating each style to its own disc; a strategy employed to great effect on his live album Live From Mars. Absent a shuffle feature, you usually have to choose between sensitive Ben or the rocking Lenny Kravitz style Harper. On a misty, rainy evening at New York City's SummerStage, Harper played a show featuring his more soulful, groove-oriented, gospel-tinged tunes. Although he typically interjects quiet acoustic breaks into the set, Harper wisely modified his formula: the crowd unlikely wouldn't have tolerated lengthy introspective interludes while they stood unsheltered from the weather.

Backed by his usual band of suspects, the Innocent Criminals, Harper kept the show upbeat for the majority of the Tuesday night show, his first of two at Central Park's outdoor theater at Rumsey Playfield, keeping the crowd dancing by focusing on the electric disc from Both Sides Of The Gun as well as old favorites like "Burn One Down" and "Steal My Kisses." On "Forgiven" and "Faded," the evening's opener, Harper broke out his signature Weissenborn lap steel slide guitar, pairing with organist Jason Yates to offer fully fleshed out versions of the tunes. Harper reserved his serious playing for the lap steel, breaking out some Jimmy Page-like gymnastics before launching into a gritty version of "Ground On Down." Harper couldn't replicate a similar mastery while standing; his standard electric guitar work really didn't add anything special to the proceedings. When Harper played traditional guitar, guitarist Michael Ward supplied the tasty licks, allowing Harper to concentrate more on his singing. Harper possesses a considerable vocal range, able to convey tender emotion or righteous indignation whenever it's called for. On "Both Sides Of The Gun," Harper barked out the lyrics with the tone and style of an impassioned street poet.

The Innocent Criminals served as more than Harper's support: on "Steal My Kisses," bassist Juan Nelson, who looks like the human version of Aqua Teen Hunger Force's Meatwad's imaginary friend Boxy, got the opportunity to really play up the bass hook; on "Burn One Down," percussionist Leon Mobley came to the forefront to deliver an extended bongo solo that delighted the crowd as well as the rest of the band. Later, on "Black Rain" Nelson, Mobley and drummer Oliver Charles wrung every bit of seventies soul out of the number.

With the exception of the exquisitely heartbreaking ballad "Waiting For You," Harper reserved his acoustic material to a short two song set to start his first encore. Returning to the stage during a pause in the precipitation, Harper offered Fight For Your Mind's "Another Lonely Day" and "Walk Away" the only song he played from his debut album, Welcome To The Cruel World. Closing the first encore with an ardent reading of "Where Could I Go" from There Will Be A Light, Harper's album with the Blind Boys Of Alabama, Harper broke away from the microphone and frantically attempted to quiet the crowd. After battling a random smattering of yahoos who wanted to hoot and holler in the silence, Harper powerfully belted out a couple verses without amplification, hushing the crowd with his passion.

Harper's lyrics pose a bit of a paradox: on "Better Way" Harper protests, "what good is a man/who won't take a stand/what good is a cynic/with no better plan" while becoming the embodiment of the plan deficient skeptic on "Black Rain," his response to the horrifying governmental neglect in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, offering lyrics like "now you don't fight for us/but expect us to die for you/you have no sympathy for us/but still I cry for you/now you may kill the revolutionary/but the revolution you can never bury." Regardless, Harper's songs project a strong sense of positive energy: his ability to capture reggae's spirit of self empowerment on "With My Own Two Hands" infusing many of his other songs. Harper's Central Park outing provided an opportunity to consider his message and for an outdoor show the acoustics were startling clear. Sometimes it was hard to figure out if the audience was paying attention to Harper's words. On "Get It Like You Like It," Harper's reference to Johnny Damon's grand slam home run that defeated the hometown Yankees in the 2004 playoffs apparently went over the decidedly partisan New York crowd's head. As Damon currently mans centerfield for the Bronx Bombers, the mere mention of his name generated some cheers in place of the expected grumbles for bringing up an event most Yankee fans would like to forget.

Harper's pointedly politically conscious lyrics, especially on Both Sides Of The Gun, are simply deadly in their simplicity; it's as if he was born a generation too late. Oddly, the crowd seemed generally unresponsive to his activist lyrics: singing along without seeming to join in the thought, appearing to appreciate the poetry but missing the passion behind it. Then again, what did I really expect the crowd to do: stage an impromptu sit-in on Mike Bloomberg's lawn; immediately march down to Washington and overthrow George Bush, elect a Libertarian; feed a squirrel? Probable misperceptions aside, Harper seemed to get his message across during the evening's finale, the Middle Eastern flavored "Better Way," leaving the crowd with the final thought that "You have a right to your dreams/don't be denied."

Labels: Ben Harper