Smoke and Mirrors - Magic Theater (CD Review)

Mike Greenhaus 2002-10-25

ERR-002

Titles can often be misleading. But, Magic Theater is a fitting moniker for this politically conscious quartet. The roots of hippie culture lie in a leftist group known as the Diggers, who turned Haight-Ashbury into their own inner city commune. Part political activists and part underground artists, the Diggers often referred to their work as theater, and used drama as a proactive commentary on society. With one foot in the past, Magic Theater mostly use instruments characteristic of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. Top-hat wearing Guitarist Joe Chamberlin plays rock guitar, but adds a Steely Dan-ish jazz flavor to his licks. Ivory man David Deveaux alternates between grand piano and the electric pump organ, taking solos and sharing vocal duties with Chamberlin. The tight-knit rhythm section of drummer Damir Popovac and the Rev. Jason Tate anchor the band, but also add quick temp changes to their songs. Magic Theater's Smoke and Mirrors is clearly a California production. Recorded in Chico, California, Smoke and River is full of sunny guitar solos and breezy jams, which will likely play well on sandy beaches. Like many jambands, Magic Theater is a quartet, centered around guitar, drums, bass and keyboards, and their loose and goofy attitude is a clear nod to certain Vermont based jam-quartet. They mix, rock and pop with jazz and slow, piano ballads, often akin to such Phish songs as "Runaway Jim". But, Magic Theater 's politically conscious lyrics and raw guitar solos are more akin to the mother of all California psychedelic bands, Jefferson Airplane. In fact, Magic Theater may be the first modern jam act to draw from both the musical energy and outspoken politics of the Airplane. The quick guitar strokes and preacher like vocals that open "Go" follow the blueprint of "Volunteers" and the frequent guest vocal appearances by Nicole Lucarotti are reminiscent of the female voice Grace Slick brought to the boy-heavy Bay Area. "So Far Away" even includes the folky-acoustic guitar sounds that characterize much of Jefferson Airplane's earlier work, complete with a Chamberlin- Lucarotti vocal duet akin to those of Marty Barlin and Grace Slick. The group's sound is a bit rough, as the raspy vocals on "A Sunny Day" show, but is still quick and fun. Perhaps the album's largest connection to the Summer of Love is a cameo by Martin Luther King himself. On the aptly titled "Freedom", the group interweaves recordings of Dr. King's famous "Freedom" speech with some bouncy fusion led by a vintage 1960s organ. Furthermore, the group borrows the title of a mid-1906s Rolling Stones' classic on loss of innocence eulogy, "Time is On My Side". Adhering to the nomadic late 1960s culture of Haight-Ashbury, Magic Theater also incorporates gypsy calls, zills, and a fiddle on the roaming "Traveler' and close their work with the brightest of all hippie anthems, "A Sunny Way." In short, Magic Theater's play is fun, but also political.