Glenvar High grad and amazing drummer Adam Clark was at Blue 5 on Sunday night with his band, The Superpowers. These guys play Afrobeat music with a distinct jazz flavor. Makes sense, since Clark spent time here playing with such fine jazzers as the Pace brothers (in the Non-Profits) and bassist Dylan Locke.

First time I heard Clark play, he was swinging madly with guitarist Cyrus Pace and Hammond B-3 icon Dr. Lonnie Smith. This time, he put his unmoveable time-feel and chops in the service of some hypnotic horn- and percussion-heavy tunes, several of which he wrote himself.

When I say horn- and percussion-heavy, here's how: When the horn players weren't burning on those instruments, they were working the hand percussion in some thick grooves.

Clark's "Acid Rain" had 3-beat figures shifting shapes inside several different time signatures, but if you were dancing or bobbing your head, you could always feel the beat. It's really hard to write stuff like that, and harder to get a full band to play it tightly, but The Superpowers lived up to their name.

"Savannah," which Clark told the audience he wrote for his mother, had a nifty drum part that included a repeated left-hand, ghosted buzz-stroke that made the tune percolate.

Sadly, there weren't much more than 30 people around for most of the night. For shame. These guys are great -- I tell you no lie. Go to http://www.myspace.com/thesuperpowers and see for yourself, then redeem yourself with a Tuesday road trip to Blacksburg. Here's the listing Clark sent me.

THE SUPERPOWERS
21st Century Afrobeat Dance Band
@ Attitudes Bar & Cafe
THIS TUESDAY JUNE 17th
Blacksburg, VA 24060
9pm-12, $5, 18+
www.myspace.com/thesuperpowers

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• Posted by Tad Dickens in Show reviews
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