Toshi Reagon @ Jammin’ Java

Toshi Reagon
April 19, 2008
Jammin’ Java
Vienna, Va.

Toshi Reagon began Saturday night by profusely thanking the 50 or so paying customers, many of whom drove to the club on March 14 before discovering the show had been cancelled due to illness. She asked for a show of hands from those who had been inconvenienced. Reagon sheepishly took a quick count and said, “That’s how you know when people like you, when you stand them up and they still come back to see you.”

I’m not sure that Reagon has fans other than the loyal ones. I hadn’t heard of her before my wife turned me onto her about eight years ago. Perhaps the best entry to her music is an invitation from someone who’s already in the club. Other avenues don’t seem to be particularly effective. When I mention to someone that we’re going to a Reagon show, more often than not the other person isn’t familiar with her. She has a bigger following than Saturday night’s turnout indicated, but Reagon still played as though she was trying to win over everyone in the room.

Reagon’s diverse style, which is a bit difficult to describe, could be one reason she isn’t better known in the mainstream. I tend to call her music “folk-rock,” but that doesn’t really encompass all she does (in addition to being a pretty lame term in general). Her music is informed by funk, R&B, rock, soul, gospel and the blues. She certainly has got one foot in the folk/activist camp: Her mother and father are Freedom Singers Bernice Johnson and Cordell Reagon; mom also is the founder of acclaimed women’s a cappella group Sweet Honey In The Rock. Pete Seeger’s wife, Toshi, is Reagon’s godmother and namesake.

Accompanied only by Fred Cash on electric bass Saturday night, Reagon’s setlist comprised an even mix of driving acoustic rockers and sweet ballads. The length of the set was a bit of a disappointment at 75 minutes or so, but that was no fault of Reagon’s; Jammin’ Java had a late hip-hop show scheduled to follow.

Reagon’s activism informed a few of the song selections, but the night’s tone was well short of preachy. She endorsed no presidential candidates, saying only that she would get out and vote for someone, particularly in light of all her ancestors did to procure that right (Reagon is black). She followed up that statement with “Ballad of the Broken Word,” a song she wrote in 1986 but didn’t record until 2002’s “Toshi.” (Sweet Honey in the Rock previously recorded the song.)

Watching a large black woman with a shaved head aggressively strum her guitar, it would be easy to assume her music is somewhat angry if not militant. At times, it is. But that’s only part of what she does. Even the angry ones seem to express a bit of hope. Reagon changed gears often Saturday, and offset the harder-edged, angrier selections with sweeter, gentler fare such as “Happy and Satisfied.” The song shows off the softer side of her vocal range, which starts at seductive whisper and is capable of reaching full-on blues belting.

Reagon also played a couple of covers. One was “Swim” by Ani DiFranco, whose Righteous Babe Records released Reagon’s last disc, 2005’s “Have You Heard.” The second selection was a reworking of “Heartbreak Hotel.” Elvis made a name for himself by incorporating elements of black music into his style. Reagon reclaimed the tune from The King, rearranging the song with a more pronounced backbeat and further emphasizing the blues behind the lyrics.

At the end of the too-early night, Reagon pledged to return to Jammin’ Java for a longer set sometime in the near future. Hopefully word of mouth will bring a few more fans into the fold by then.