Triumphant after a bout with throat and skin cancer, dance-hall reggae deejay Yellowman (38-year-old Winston Foster) came to Chicago Friday evening with much to prove, after a couple years of middling performances.
Judging by the affirming screams of the crowd at the Cubby Bear, 1059 W. Addison Ave., his delivery is robust again.
From the opening “Reggae On The Move,” the title track of his new album on RAS Records, to his encore, Yellowman was the consummate entertainer, cajoling and swooning the crowd with harmonic reggae classics, jump-around calypso numbers and selections from his own formidable lyrics chest.
Yellowman’s immersion in North American music, from 1950s R&B to country, manifested itself in his lilting interpretations of Fats Domino’s “Blueberry Hill” and John Denver’s “Country Road (Jamaica Nice),” among others.
Though a Yellowman concert may not be billed as a safe-sex/biology lecture, his exhortations to responsible behavior and his detailed descriptions of human physiognomy may qualify it for some academic credit. And yet his “Be My Guest Tonight” and “Bedroom Eyes” seemed clinical and wholesome in light of some of the more explicit toasters (Jamaican rappers) around.
Yellowman’s still-spectral frame belies a commanding stage presence that dates to the late 1970s when he teamed up with his now-deceased sidekick Fathead. Signed to Columbia Records in the early 1980s, he rose meteorically with prolific releases after Bob Marley’s 1981 passage.
Yellowman, who previously sold out venues from Madison Square Garden to stadiums in Tokyo, relied on fluid, tantalizing lyrics and his stark appearance as much as the sweet harmonies expertly provided by the Saggitarius Band. He even made light of his albinism. “Yellow like cheese/you can have me any way that you please,” he cooed as he flapped his arms and rippled like a butterfly in a dance of the same name.
Toward the swirling end of his 2 1/2-hour revue, Yellowman’s motley cultural allusions continued apace.
He sang a medley of old hits, including “Mr. Ching,” “I’m Getting Married in the Morning,” “Gun Man,” “Bam Bam” and “If You Should Lose Me.”
