Reggae Meets Funk

Reggae Meets Funk

By Mike Lauterborn

© 2010. All Rights Reserved.

5/9/10

Stamford, CT -- One part reggae. One part funk. Mix together in a phat joint. Add a generous dash of music lovers. Stir vigorously. Serves many.

These were the ingredients of a hot steaming stew called “Reggae Meets Funk”, a groove-inducing musical buffet spooned out last month at the Route 22 Restaurant and Bar in Stamford, CT by Messrs. Mystic Bowie and Jen Durkin.

Bowie, a veteran professional born Fitzroy Alexander Campbell in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, ladled the reggae. Durkin, with a 15-year career as a lead vocalist in groups like The Bomb Squad and Deep Banana Blackout, brought the funk. It was a badass combo and the two alternated their beats and unique styles, more than satisfying the hunger of the enthusiastic crowd that had come to see them.

“Mystic is always open to influences… pop, rock, funk,” Bowie’s new manager Maxine Stowe noted when asked how this sumptuous meal of music had been inspired. “And Jen has a huge base in CT. With the region’s rich music scene, this was the perfect setting for this mix.”  Route 22’s music booker, Jason Jones, was also instrumental in bringing the act here. He contacted Bowie and Bowie brought in Durkin, with whom he had tag-teamed in the past.

Bowie and Durkin, standing center stage amongst their six-piece band, certainly seemed to complement each other.  Bowie bopped and bounced in his tight yellow tee, braids and camo pants cinched at the waist while Jen effected a Janis Joplin-esque cool vibe in black shades, flowing cotton top and white pants, but also held a Jamaican-inspired percussion instrument. “This place is amazing. We can get some serious acrobatics going!” Durkin gushed.

The space was indeed made to accommodate their music – a little funky, a lot laid back. An industrial ceiling of sheet metal to reflect their beats. Air ducts like dutchie pipes. Brick walls with old gas station signs, license plates and even a working traffic light. Staff in black Route 22 t-shirts. Even a disco ball center ceiling shooting out little pinpoints all over the room.

Billed as “America’s Favorite Pit Stop”, Route 22 boasts two locations: the Stamford locale and Armonk, NY. The latter is the original location and began life as a gas station built back in the late 20s. Founder Lance Root, a restaurant/club veteran who ran Hard Rock Cafes and opened the Harley Davidson Café among other credits, developed the vision playing off the gas station theme and his surname. He credits his booker Jones with helping bring the concept to life with hot acts like Bowie and Durkin.

“We’re mixing it up, doing some old, some new,” Bowie informed the full house about the duo’s song set, as he and Durkin alternated between jams like “Nevah Kiss & Tell” and “Rasta Man Call” from Bowie’s latest CD “Nevah Kiss and Tell” (dedicated to his “mama” Beryl Smith Jones), rifts like “Take Me Back” and “Higher”, and classics such as “I Can See Clearly Now” and “The Tide is High”.

The crowd – black, white, male, female, baseball caps, beanies, even a cowboy hat in the pack – ate it all up, weaving, bending and swaying, bathed in gel lights. When Bowie started chanting, “Music is my drug of choice!”, a line from his new song “Drug of Choice”, the gathering exploded, singing along with him and fist pumping in the air. Bowie was their reggae god and they were his disciples, if only for the evening.

“Lord have mercy!” Durkin had to call out, marveling at the frenzy the duo had created, a frothy brew and “the best of both worlds” as she aptly put it describing the reggae/funk collaboration.

The most diminutive member of the congregation was a Bowie relation. “My biggest fan is here, my nephew Little Benny, “ the singer announced, bringing the lad up on stage and handing him a cowbell and drumstick to knock out an accompanying beat. The room devoured this and when he’d completed his gig, Benny received uproarious applause and Bowie’s praise, “More cowbell! You’re hired!”

Benny was not the only family member of Bowie’s in the house. Thirteen-year-old son Jason, from Bowie’s first marriage, was seated with Stowe at a dedicated booth adjacent to the dance floor. Jason mentioned a brother and sister, who live in Florida. Second wife Shannon was also on hand, busily conducting sales of Bowie’s CD, organizing literature and speaking with press.

Stowe, who actually co-manages Bowie along with Jay Stollman, hopes to take Bowie’s career “vertical”. A niece of Clement Dodd who founded Studio One (Jamaica Recording), one of Jamaica’s leading record labels, Stowe spoke of Bowie’s philanthropic efforts. These centered around the Mystic Bowie Cultural Center, a 5-acre facility established in Jamaica to offer free music, sports and drama lessons – educational resources in effect to help underprivileged youth. Bowie is constantly raising funds and shipping school supplies, clothing and musical instruments to the island-based facility Stowe informed.

As the group’s percussionist launched into a solo, saying, “I wait all day to break it down, to do this!”, the crowd went wild, pure joy broadcast on their faces, all funked up and feelin’ irie. The intensity built as heads were engaged and bobbed, arms waved and “the wall of sound” (the band’s guitarists) kicked in.

“Are you feeling good? Are you feeling good?” Bowie taunted. Then, “Are you ready to shake?” as he began crooning Calypso-style “Everybody Shake”.

It was a sweet helping of dessert rounding out this feast of funk and reggae roast. Appetites were sated, palates stimulated and revelers infused with tasty beats. A five-star rating had been well-earned.

About Mystic Bowie: http://www.mysticbowie.com/

About Jen Durkin: http://www.jendurkin.com/

Writer Mike Lauterborn: http://www.mikelauterborn.com/