Living Colour: New Morning—The Paris Concert

Paris' New Morning venue tends to showcase jazz acts, but the club made an exception in 2007 for Living Colour, perhaps because members of this hard-rock quartet (notably guitarist Vernon Reid) have ties to New York's jazz community. While there's nothing overtly jazzy about their 17-song set, several songs feature lengthy instrumental passages. Forceful frontman Corey Glover, son of actor Danny Glover, handles most of the vocals (in “Funny Vibe,” he sings “No, I'm not gonna hurt you/so why you wanna give me that funny vibe?”), while bassist Doug Wimbish (Grandmaster Flash, Tackhead) adds a vocal line to “Go Away,” and Reid takes the lead on Junior Murvin's “Police and Thieves,” a song famously covered by the Clash, which here forms a medley with “Type.” Other well chosen covers include the Talking Heads' “Memories Can't Wait,” the Temptations' “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” and Jimi Hendrix's “Crosstown Traffic.” To the band's credit, the transitions between their originals and these classic tracks are perfectly smooth. Drummer Will Calhoun, who delivers a long solo towards the end of the set, rounds out the lineup for a band that effectively integrates blues, funk, metal, and progressive-rock flourishes in this near-two-hour concert, presented in DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1, and stereo. Recommended. Aud: P. (K. Fennessy)