POP MUSIC REVIEW : Third-World Reggae a la Beethoven

Roll over, Bob Marley, and tell ol’ Ludwig the news.

The news Tuesday at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano was that “world beat” has become such a nebulous term that it can encompass a dreadlocked Jamaican playing riffs from Beethoven’s Fifth on a cello , ELO-style.

At least that’s how the reggae band Third World chose to cap its headlining set on a triple bill dubbed “World Beat ‘91,” which also featured South African vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo and West Indian star Arrow.

Coming from Third World, reggae a la Beethoven really wasn’t that surprising. Since emerging in the mid-’70s, the band has crossed Jamaican roots with all manner of trendy stuff from the pop mainstream. What the superficially entertaining show lacked was a strong affirmation of the musical culture Third World comes from.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo mostly avoided hybridizing its sublime a cappella music, although the group engaged in some questionable dabbling with Western pop conventions: canned backing instrumentation on one song, and an awkward audience-participation segment on another.

Otherwise, Mambazo did its wonderful stuff. At peak moments, nine voices would fall in behind leader Joseph Shabalala in a surging lock-step, creating a whooshing rhythmic propulsion, an inexorable, palpable reminder of the potency of breath. The musical flow was mirrored in the group’s synchronized steps and gestures.

Arrow’s soca (soul-calypso) music is all about dancing. The sit-down Coach House is not designed for dancing. The singer and his band carried on like pros, but their music seemed undernourished without any dance-floor energy to feed upon.