issa's wild hare weekend

during the weekend of september 20, 2001, reporter issa prophet, revelled in reggae at chicago's own wild hare.  here is her exclusive, unedited report:::

You can’t go home again.  Once you leave the security of the familiar you are forever changed.  I can’t go home, but I found comfort in the familiar this weekend. 

If you ever wondered what a crossing of The Grateful Dead and Bob Marley would sound like you must check out the group Immunity.  They are very good musicians.  They have a lot of enthusiasm and are very entertaining.  Even though this wasn’t my type of sound I couldn’t help but have a good time and the packed crowd did too.   

Old home weekend started for me when I met up with Onesmo, Chilly and Ivan in the crowd while listening to Immunity.  They are 3 out of the 5 members of the group called Los Exodus - Featuring Innocent, out of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Innocent and Lance round out the crew.  I met Innocent and Onesmo at an African party over eight years ago and it was good to see ‘my peeps’ from Minneapolis.   

Innocent is the lead singer, rhythm guitarist and the lyricist of the group.  He hails from Tanzania, as does Onesmo, who keeps the vibe moving and grooving on the bass.  Chilly comes to the band by way of the US Virgin Islands.  Chilly has everyone bubbling on the keyboard.  Lance is the rude boy on the drums.  He licks the rim shot hard and is rooted in Minneapolis. Last, but never least, is native Chicagoan, Ivan who plays lead guitar.  This man rips it clean and fast.   Since relocating to Chicago he plays with the band infrequently.  He can also be spotted on the Jazz and Blues scene here in Chicago.   

I was happy to hear that Los Exodus had incorporated some new songs into their line up.  The show is a mix of cover songs and originals.  One of the covers they did was ‘Jah Live’ by Bob Marley.  Innocent weaves beautiful stories in his music.  My favorite song of his is ‘Kilimanjaro’, which is also the name of their recent CD.  One audience member leaned over to me during this song and said, “Man, that’s deep.” 

Sunday night was back to being fun night, at least for tonight, because Gizzae was there.    I checked the Hare’s calendar and it doesn’t look like Gizzae is back on Sunday night consistently (wha gwan wid dat, star?).  I was surprised to see a friend of mine from Minneapolis show up and found comfort in a familiar laugh.

Rocket, the lead singer and bassist and Clem, lead guitarist, both come from the lovely isle of Dominica.  Ruphael, keyboards and Asrat, drums, come from Ethiopia.  Ralph is a home grown Chicagoan from the south side and he also plays keyboards.  This is a seasoned group of musicians who have over 100 years experience, collectively.   

With their varied backgrounds in musical styles Gizzae will have you traveling all over the world in one night.  One song you will be skanking true roots style to some sweet reggae music and the next you will be swinging your backside to calypso.  The one I like to ‘shake a boo’ to is the traditional Ethiopian song ‘Ecoute’.  It reminds me of  the African parties and I just **have** to shake it East African style.   When I hear Clem pick that very fast rhythm I start to think we could have a ‘war of the guitars’ and have Clem and Ivan go head to head. 

During the second set I almost had my wish come true.  Ivan came up on stage and strapped on Clem’s guitar for one song.  We were also treated to one song, each, by Michael Black, Spiritual – who reminds me of Burning Spear, until he busts out in a DJ style and ErrollT – who has a sweet, lover’s rock, style voice.  But the best part of ErrolT’s performance was his dancing.  When he did the splits the crowd started to cheer.   

It was good to see friends that I have known for so many years.  I recall the laughs, the disagreements, the jokes and the music, the sweet music is what keeps us all connected to each other. I hear the rhythm from Ecoute’ and Rocket’s sweet voice that purrs like a lion dancing around in my ears as I make my way home. 

You can find more information about Gizzae and The Wild Hare at www.gizzae.com and www.wildharereggae.com.  

Issa Prophet has been a reggae fan since 1988.  She started doing CD and concert reviews as a way of keeping the memory alive, as well as sharing the experience with friends.  Since 1999 she has seen over 140 live shows of 60+ artists and groups.  Issa Prophet can be reached at Issa_1999@Hotmail.com