the hum / By Bob Doran

Golden?

It’s actually a relatively massive week for reggae in general. Ishi and company also perform Wednesday, April 11, for a People Productions and Passion Presents co-pro at Indigo with reggae legend Don Carlos, as in the original founder of Black Uhuru, with One Root Soundsystem spinning some sort of rootsy bass-heavy shit before and between.

The night before that, Tuesday, April 10, lanky rhyme-spinner Eek-A-Mouse plays at the Red Fox Tavern. Red Fox also has Dub Cowboy‘s usual Dancehall Reggae Massive this and every Thursday. Saturday night at the Tavern, Proper Presents presents Prezident Brown. Have you noticed how Prez Brown always has an entourage full of young, starry-eyed dreadlocked women with their hair in wraps? Is that because of some Rasta sect? Just askin’. BTW, Prez Brown and Eek-a-Mouse are among those booked for Reggae on the River, for what that’s worth, and don’t ask me what it’s worth, not until the judge rules.

In between all that the reggae at the Tavern, my friend Rebba’s That’s How We Roll adds a splash of underground hip hop Friday with Ivan Ives out of L.A. making his Humboldt debut with Crew Stupidfresh and DJ Troma. Humboldt hip hop represents with J the Sarge and DJ Itchie Fingaz, the cat who spins two nights a week at Sidelines. (His day job is slinging CDs at the Metro.)

Let’s talk benefits. No, not like medical and dental benefits (almost no musicians get those) - more like benefits for good causes of one sort or another (some of them medical). You may have heard that eco-activist Darryl Cherney is now a respectable member of the Southern Humboldt Healthcare District board of directors. Since benefits have long been his business, he’s put one together for Saturday night at the Mateel to support the SoHum hospital, featuring folk-rockin’ Americana by the Marjo Wilson Band out of Covelo, along with the requisite pre-show dinner and all that. Hospital folks will play chamber music during dinner. Darryl is listed as MC - do you think he might bring his guitar?

Female-fronted rock band Calamity Jane rocks the Bayside Grange that same night for a benefit they’re calling Up From the Ashes, raising funds for friends Sarah and Joan whose house burned down. (They have no insurance - bummer.)

I got an e-mail last week from some woman who was coming into town and wondered where she and her friends might find some salsa to dance to. I steered her to Indigo, where Ponche was playing AfroCuban salsa for the Jazz Fest (which I hear did very well attendance-wise this time out). If she’s still around, she may also want to take in the Ponche gig Friday night at the Kate Buchanan Room, this one a benefit for Make-A-Wish Foundation and Latinos Unidas.

The following morning, it’s the big KHSU Record Swap, where you can shop for vinyl, CDs, cassettes, posters, T-shirts - anything music-related, from tables manned by music-loving vendors and traders. The soundtrack will be live, with music by the folky songwriterSarafae (at noon), KHSU’s Friday Jamdown DJ Dub Cowboy (1:30 p.m.), Humboldt’s top alt. rock cover band The Professional Superheroes (3 p.m.) and loudness from A Parting Shot (with school board member Shane Brinton) closing the show with a parting shot starting at 4 p.m. The fun and swapping starts at 11 a.m. Saturday at*HSU’s Goodwin Forum in Nelson Hall East. A*$2 cover goes to KHSU, and if you’ve been following the college’s budget story, you know they need the gold.

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