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Mark Anthony Thompson, aka Chocolate Genius, may be the best practitioner of rock/soul synthesis you'll never hear. This time out, the Genius' ever-shifting lineup includes such members as Marc Ribot, Van Dyke Parks, and Meshell Nedegeocello, who've crafted a dazzling crossbreed swirl called Black Yankee Rock. It serves to further affirm the critical swell that surrounds Thompson in his NYC homeland, but frustratingly extends little beyond his metropolitan confines.
Although Thompson may not seem compatible with pop slickness, anybody who's seen him slay Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" in the live setting knows of his affinity for tearjerkers, and he delivers one with the striking "Same Time Tomorrow." It's bare in its emotion and propped up on plaintive keys plus Blind Boys-like backing vocals. Gloss up Thompson's heavy-hearted ode with a Hollywood sheen and you'd be diggin' pay dirt. "Amazona" fleshes a low-key R&B rhythm with Peter Max-colored harmonies to bring on the ecstasy, while the bittersweet feel of "Rats Under Waterfalls" plays like twisted kiddieland euphoria. "Tomboyrockstar" drives with a twilight Brooklyn feel; it's whisper spoken in Thompson's coffee-colored stroke and backed by a bass line so damned deep you can't feel your knees. And in an album filled with fine single-malt groove, Black Yankee's best moment is "It's Going Wrong." Full of airy harmony, sad raindrop keys, and sparse rhythm, Thompson seductively casts black magic.
Given that Thompson has released three increasingly divine albums since 1998 and that he is one of the hands-down great live talents anywhere, one has to ask, how do you move beyond the cult level when you fall into the no-play realm of the too good to be easily packaged? Hopefully the answer is by spreading the word one-if-by-land, two-if-by-sea of a Black Yankee Rock.
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