There was a time when The Slits, an utterly unique punk/reggae trio of British women whose first LP (“Cut,” one of only three) was released in 1979, would have never been heard anywhere near Lincoln Center.
But times have changed and the powers that be at that venerable Upper West Side institution celebrated both the music and the spirit of those upstart musicians with a free tribute concert last Friday held in a very packed David Rubenstein Atrium as part of the “American Songbook” series.
Not that we were complaining, but we did wonder how those fabulous Brits fit into the American Songbook format, and Shanta Thake, Ehrenkranz chief artistic officer of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, filled us in on her thinking: “So many great artists found new ways to create because of the doors The Slits opened, including many of the front women that performed at the tribute. Their influence is part of what shapes the American Songbook today.”
Thake invited Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill) and Tamar-kali (musician/award-winning composer) to co-curate the American Songbook series, which also featured tributes to Poly Styrene and the band Fanny as well as the upcoming “Mixtape: Women in Punk” concert.
The evening featured an excellent house band consisting of Elenna Canlas (keys, vocals), Keyanna Hutchinson (guitar), MD (aka Muzikaldunk – drums), and Evan Lawrence (bass). The evening was anchored by the irrepressible author/musician Vivien Goldman, a friend of the band from the beginning who, when she wasn’t introducing the various vocalists, could be seen dancing up a storm on the side of the stage.
Goldman, the author of “Revenge of the She-Punks: A Feminist Music History from Poly Styrene to Pussy Riot in 2019,” introduced the show by recalling that The Slits were “defiant” and that Ari Up, the lead singer, “knew what she wanted and she got it.” When they came along, Goldman said, “it was like the world went from black and white to color.”
The stage was filled with a revolving cast of singers, most of whom had either known the band or had been influenced by them. Rachel Dissident, Anna Young, Dunia Best, Cleo Reed, Simi Stone, Shara Lunon, Ashley Kossakowski, Felice Rosser, Honeychild Coleman, and Alana Amram joyously tackled the idiosyncratic tunes that blended punk, funk, reggae, and jazz with odd time signatures and oddly timely lyrics.
The tunes chosen ranged from that first LP to later, more experimental tunes such as “Face Place” and “Improperly Dressed,” which Amram superbly delivered without the benefit of a rehearsal.
“Those songs are so psychotic!” she exclaimed after the show. “I can’t believe I sang them at Lincoln Center.”
Amram recalled how she first discovered the band on a third-generation mixtape given to her by “a nerd at a record store.”
“They were sexy and weird and funky at the same time,” she said. “It was a new kind of beautiful femininity. They were magical.”
Goldman was visibly thrilled with the music.
“I knew I would love my she-punk cohorts who knew The Slits — Dunia Best, Honeychiild Coleman, and Felice Rosser — her “Earthbeat” was outstanding, but it was great to discover the others, like Cleo Reed and Ashley Kossakowski,” she said. “It was pretty emotional hearing the re-interpretations of familiar Slits songs by these quite different styles of musicians. It brought home the excellence of Ari-Up’s idiosyncratic songwriting, and the fascinating arc of the band’s development – and how much encouragement and inspiration they had given with their few recordings.”
In the audience was guitarist Angela Babin, who noted that “this was like the old days – it was a great night!”
“Having these rebel girls perform and be accepted in such a revered space is something we should cherish, particularly right now,” mused Goldman. “It was particularly sweet to see The Slits get respect as they certainly faced a lot of obstacles at the time.”
Coming up at Lincoln Center: www.lincolncenter.org/series/
Explore the world of Vivien Goldman at viviengoldman.com
