“RHYZE”

I arrived after the set began, but by that time the audience was more plentiful than typical for the Wednesday warm weather outdoor concerts – meaning this joyful noise made more linger to enjoy what they heard – but instead of chattering amongst themselves (often the case), many were on their feet, clapping along, shaking hips or shoulders and otherwise digging on and responding to the horn-heavy, funkified Gospel of “RHYZE.” It was old school house party meets new school altar call.  One song whose title I recall, God’s On Call, genuinely connected with the audience, a really emotional and energetic performance. I wish I saw the whole show, these cats can play. R&B dance comes from Gospel music, so the genres comingling here were not exactly new to each other, but you rarely hear such a relentlessly swinging mash-up.  Most gospel music uses an organ as the instrumentation bedrock; here the horn section was the foundation.  The Angel Gabriel blew a horn and didn’t Joshua jam at the Battle of Jericho? The lyrics were unabashedly Christian; the back beat infectious up-tempo soul.  The front man said something about being an R&B band that played the dance club circuit but now were reborn as a contemporary gospel unit. The spirituality only enhanced their grooves. I have rarely seen a band so inspire a crowd at Groove on Grove; people were into this band. They connected. It may have been more due to the funk than the Good News, but by the end of the set everyone was uplifted by “RHYZE.”

"RHYZE" Facebook Page