Hard Proof Afrobeat 1-14-11

by Robert Crump

Last Friday night, two Austin bands gathered on stage to give a glimpse of music loved and cherished in far-flung regions across the globe. Hard Proof Afrobeat and Atash played The Ghost Room to a sizable dancing crowd. I had no idea that so many people appreciated this kind of music enough to miss Girl Talk and whatever else was on tap for A-town this night. World music offers American patrons a foreign aesthetic and a unique state of mind to enjoy themselves. I don’t like the words ‘exotic’ or ‘escape’ when talking about music. Exposure to new art forms allows you to experience yourself in a new way. What might have been foreign becomes something remarkably familiar when you live it with a group. Atash has already been covered by LMC Radio, so I’ll devote this blog post to Hard Proof.

Most African music being played in the United States traces its origins back to the late great Fela Anikulapo Kuti, who first coined the term Afrobeat. The principle behind Afrobeat is to unite the musical styles of the Diaspora onto a single stage. To accommodate so many genres you need a lot of musicians and a flexible design to composition. Hard Proof succeeds brilliantly through this medium. Their dynamic improvisation is held together by a tight rhythm and expansive composition. It’s really thrilling to watch the players unfold their expression individually and collectively on stage. Hard Proof leans more towards the Afro-Cuban style than any of the others available under the larger banner of Afrobeat. A casaba and bongos thrown into the mix bring out a very vigorous sound, and the crowd ate it up. Everywhere I looked, people were grinning and dancing as Hard Proof navigated from funk to jazz and back again. For good measure, they threw in an Ethiopian song by Mulatu Astatqe, which was definitely my evening’s highlight.

Hard Proof inspire an infectious joy from their audience, which comes out through movement. Like a lot of Afrobeat, the horns lead the sound and tempo. I was especially impressed with the baritone sax player. The brass section digs into a deep funk groove only to pull out into a sultry soirée. Hard Proof’s dynamic variability wins over crowds of beautiful dancing people. The wonderful thing about fusion is that it allows the artist to cast a wide net while remaining true to a single aesthetic and giving individual artists space to improvise and communicate. I love Hard Proof because they reaffirm Fela Kuti’s brilliant insight that the funk, jazz, African, and Latin sounds can all work together. But there’s a catch: you have to be damn good to pull it off. Luckily, Austin has one of the best Afrobeat bands in the U.S.