Many Styles, One Band

'I wanted to see what the reaction would be when ...the first song was reggae and the next song was funk. Would people accept that?' Five years later, they're still saying yes to Kennedy Thompson and One World Tribe.

One night after Chick corea and Orign helps initiate the new Pepsi Amphitheater, One World Tribe takes over. No one's happier about that prospect than Kennedy Thompson, the Tribe bandleader.

"He's one of my favorite artists!" exclaimed Thompson. "I've seen Corea like four times. Chick Corea's Elektric Band is one of my bands. Yeah, I'm going to be in the front for Chick Corea."

Musical adventurers such as Corea and Carlos Santana inspire Thompson and One World Tribe, the long-running Erie crew that refuses to play favorites with musical genres. From reggae to soul, hip-hop to funk, jazz to salsa to African pop, they cover styles like water covers the globe. For Thompson, that's the natural path to follow, the only one that makes sense.

"I was always a person who was into so many things," said Kennedy. "I could never understand how people couldn't like more than one style of music. My taste was so varied. I wanted to hear all those other things. I was into Latin music. Anything with a strong rhythmic presence, I was there."

Thompson remembers making an Earth, Wind and Fire record his first musical purchase. He attended Cathedral Prep, then studied music at Mercyhurst College, where he continued widening his range. His CD collection spans a wild, woolly gamut from AC / DC to McCoy Tyner, John Coltrane to Rolling Stones, Eddie Palmeri to Rolling Stones (sic). Thompson was determined to incorporate his varied tastes into one band. Why pick one style when you can do them all?"

"I wanted to see what the reaction would be when a band went on stage and the first song was reggae and the next song was funk or whatever," he said. "Would people accept that?"

Five years later, dance-mad, arm-waving crowds supply the answer. Yeah, mon.

On two separate nights, more than 700 people turned out to see One World Tribe at the new Docksider. In Buffalo - at Broadway Joe's and the Calumet - crowds from 300 to 700 regularly turn out. That crowd covers as wide a range as their music, too, from professors to students, from bankers to hippies.

"We have a very diverse crowd," said Thompson. "Matty [Walker] and I went to Cleveland to the Parliament-Funkadelic show to promote George Clinton [at the Warner last November], and we were like 'Does this crowd remind you of anyone else's crowd? Yeah. Ours.' It's similar to the Clinton and P-Funk All-stars crowd, really diverse."

Makes sense, considering this band appeals to so many tastes. That stew never sits still, either. Senegal-born drummer M'Baye Diagne has become a permanent guest Tribesman, of sorts. Whenever not previously engaged, Diagne - who lives in Buffalo - joins the Tribe.

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One World Tribe will appear Friday at 10 p.m. on the mainstage of the Erie Summer Festival of the Arts at Liberty Park's Pepsi Ampitheater, West Bayfront Parkway. Admission is free.

One World

But they share a common spirit and vision. Thompson said One World Tribe - like Corea, Santana, and Bob Marley, his musical heroes - aims to uplift and inspire.

"Those people are the true rebels," said Thompson. "People like Santana are not afraid to stand on the hardest issues. ... He has always been positive in his music, he speaks to consciousness and upliftment. And that's what we're about. So no matter how dark things get and how dark the world of music gets, [we consider] Santana and Bob Marley and those people to be the light in the darkness."

Lately, Thompson sees a newer artist forging a similar path as his heroes. He hopes Lauryn Hill sparks a trend away from negative music.

"Most music coming out now is about destructive things," said Thompson. "I see some of this stuff, and I'm like, 'How can these people be into this?' Some of it is really scary. I don't want to name names, but you know who's saying what, and that stuff's scary. Some kids don't have too many things to turn them in the right direction, and they're getting an earful of that stuff, and it's not right.

"But once in awhile a new artist comes along like Lauryn Hill who represents a lot of positivity in what she's doing. And she's rare. She proves you can come out and be positive and sell records. That gives you hope."