'Maurice White's life forms the spine of Daryl Brooks' 'Reasons: A Tribute to Earth, Wind & Fire,' the new show at Black Ensemble Theater,' writes Tribune critic ChrisJonesTrib.
Rashun Carter, Christian Bufford, Gregory Stewart Jr and RJ Griffith in"Reasons: A Tribute to Earth, Wind & Fire" at Black Ensemble Theater.
Chicago really doesn’t talk enough about Maurice White, the life force of the amazing band Earth, Wind & Fire, a long-lived, tightly wound and singularly eclectic entity that sold 90 million records, achieved global fame and reinvented itself numerous times. Even now, richly harmonic and danceable hits like “Fantasy” and “Got to Get You Into My Life” are as thrilling as when they spun on the disco floor. I’m listening to the former as I write.
“No it wasn’t,” loudly said a gentleman seated in house left, clearly a fan with a long and funky memory. It was a lovely moment and one indicative of the kind of mutual musical love fest that, over the years, has marked the best nights at Black Ensemble.Gregory Stewart Jr and Yajaira Velez in"Reasons: A Tribute to Earth, Wind & Fire" at Black Ensemble Theater.
This is not a full-blown jukebox show, although I’d have thought White and this band deserved that kind of Broadway treatment. The book scenes drag a tad, and the vocals are not always perfectly tight. In fairness, this material is very hard to sing. Even the actual band, at least when I saw them live, had to work hard in halls and arenas to replicate the way its studio recordings sounded.
Still, pleasures here included an empathetic Christian Bufford as the “mature” version of White and a very impressivefrom Stewart as Bailey. There’s a surfeit of family drama and not enough musical exploration of this phenomenal figure for my tastes. But you get the hits, all right, and Robert Reddrick’s ever-reliable band has not only grown in size but gives all it can to pump out that signature sound. “September,” to cite just one example, is recognizable from its first measure. What a legacy.
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