The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • Page T7

THE SUNLIVE THURSDAY 09.07.2006 7T From blues to rock with stops in between souNpcHECK J- riiic acci'c ii i ii i ii THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS RASHOD D.OLLISON MglgWflliKlrlBIIHM ben harper Merri-weather Post Pavilion In March, Ben Harper released his seventh studio album, the two-disc Both Sides of the Gun. On Sunday, Harper and his band, the Innocent Criminals, perform at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia. Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley opens. Merriweather is at 10475 Little Patuxent Parkway.

Gates open at 5:30 p.m., and the show starts at 7. Tickets are BEN HARPER The Roots have released their seventh CD, "The Game Theory." EVAN AGOSTINI GETTY IMAGES and are available through Ticketmaster at 410-547-SEAT or ticketmaster. com. branford marsalis Rams Head Tavern Grammy-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis, who along with his quartet has a new CD called Braggtown out Tuesday, performs two shows Wednesday night at Rams Head Tavern. Show times are 6:30 p.m.

and 9:30 p.m., and tickets are $40. Rams Head Tavern is at 33 West Annapolis. Call 410-268-4545 or visit ramsheadtavern. com. PAUL anka Lyric Opera House '50s teen idol Paul Anka performs at 8 p.m.

tomorrow night at the Lyric Opera House, 140 W. Mount Royal Ave. Tickets are 75 and are available through Ticketmaster by calling 410-547-SEAT or visiting ticketmaster.com. AS USUAL, MY PLAYLIST IS a wildly eclectic mix of sounds. The new releases I'm listening to this week range from evocative '50s blues to ferocious post-grunge rock.

In between, there's quirky urban pop and dense, progressive hip-hop. Percy Mayfield, Specialty Profiles: Let's start with the oldie of the bunch by one of the most undervalued songsmiths in pop. Two years ago, the Concord Music Group acquired the catalog of Specialty, Art Rupe's legendary '50s label that released pioneering rock 'n' roll records by Little Richard and Lloyd Price and early gospel tracks by the Soul Stirrers featuring a young Sam Cooke. Last week, the Beverly Hills-based company began its Specialty Profiles series, a line of succinct best-of collections by the famed label's unsung legends. Called the poet laureate of the blues, Mayfield is perhaps best known for "Please Send Me Someone to Love," an incisive, brokenhearted ballad that topped the charts in 1950.

Though over the years many artists, including Dinah Washington and Sade, have recorded the song, Mayfield's version is the definitive one. His thick, drawling baritone gives the rocks-in-my-heart sentiment of the lyrics a certain believability that no other rendition has captured. The artist's life reflected the sadness of his work. Just as he was about to become a major star, Mayfield's refined good looks were ruined in a 1952 car crash that left his face disfigured. Soon afterward, he became an alcoholic and drifted into obscurity for nearly 30 years.

In 1984, a day before his 64th birthday, the blues great suffered a heart attack and died. At the time, May-field was on the verge of a career resurgence. His Specialty Profiles edition is a great introduction to his best work of the 1950s. The 14-track set opens with "Please Send Me Someone to Love" followed by other beautiful, downtrodden blues numbers such as "Prayin' For Your Return" and "Cry Baby." But Mayfield wasn't all tears. When he wanted to, he could swing Mama- experienced as a whole unit.

Beware: It is a heavy album. And with the crude drawing of a hangman on the cover, what should one expect? Bumping with nervy beats, paranoid vocals and bitter, angst-laced rhymes by the Roots' mouthpiece, the ever-serious Black Thought, The Game Theory is much more focused than the band's last effort, 2004's halfhearted The Tipping Point. Musically, though, the album isn't as kaleidoscopic as previous releases. The sound is refreshingly streamlined as the spotlight centers on the rhymes. It's fitting that such a dark album closes with a eulogy.

"Can't Stop," a reflective eight-minute suite produced by the recently departed Dilla, opens and closes with heartfelt testimonials about one of the best beatmakers hip-hop has ever known. Audioslave, Revelations: In a recent RollingStone.com interview, Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello described the post-grunge band's new album as "Led Zeppelin meets Earth, Wind Fire. It's a big rock record with a funky bottom." He isn't too far off. The 12-track CD kicks off with the driving, pumped-up title track. And it's indicative of the arrangements on the rest of the album: choppy chords over simple, funk-derived beats.

Some cuts are more memorable than others. "One in the Same," for instance, is an immediate stamper awash with wah-wah guitar that sounds closer to Funkadelic than "Original Fire," the album's first single, is a fine showcase for Chris Cornell's bristly, Bruce Springsteen-like vocals. Though the energy lags a bit during the second half of Revelations, the album solidly brings back to modern rock a strong sense of groove, something the genre has been missing lately. rashod.ollisonbaltsun.com Peachy and get nasty A slight Louisiana man with little formal education, he was an insightful (occasionally maudlin) lyricist whose work was greatly admired by his longtime friend, Ray Charles. The soul genius recorded several of the blues poet's songs, including "Hit the Road Jack." Mayfield's original bare-bones demo of that classic closes his edition of Specialty Profiles.

Kelis, Kelis Was Here: When Ke-lis first hit the scene in 1999, she rocked a rainbow freedom 'fro, which was emblematic of her musical approach. Wild and colorfully bright, Kaleidoscope, the Harlem native's Neptunes-pro-duced debut, featured her breakout hit "Caught Out There." On it, Kelis famously screamed the chorus: "I hate you so much right now." Wanderland, her 2001 sophomore album, wasn't even released in the United States. But 2003's Tasty went gold, spurred by the insanely catchy No. 3 pop single, "Milkshake." Now, Mrs. Na-sir Jones returns with her fourth and most inconsistent CD, Kelis Was Here.

This time, she ditches the Neptunes in favor of a cast of hot urban-pop producers, including the ubiquitous will. i. am, Scott Storch and Shondrae. The album opens with "Bossy," a moderate summer hit and one of the CD's weaker cuts. On "Till the Wheels Fall Off," the no-nonsense singer expertly delves into funk-rock as filtered through Prince circa 1987.

The lively cut is one of the CD's standouts along with the whimsical "Circus" and the club burner "Blindfold Me." With 18 tracks the album is excessively long and padded but studded here and there with quirky, beat-driven cuts emboldened by Kelis' irresistible musical personality. You'd be better off cherry-picking songs for your iPod. The Roots, The Game Theory: But this set, the Philly hip-hop band's seventh overall, is better SARAH KICKLER KELBER JUST ANNOUNCED "FESTIVAL UNIVISION" featuring Gloria Trevi, Monchy and Alexandra, La India, Charlie Cruz, Fula-nitos, Oro Solido and others Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia on Oct. 1. 410-547-SEAT or ticket master.com.

HEATHER HEADLEY AND RUBEN STUDDARD DAR Constitution Hall in Washington on Oct. 20. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. tomorrow. 410-547-SEAT or ticketmaster.com.

umphrey'S mcgee The 9:30 Club in Washington on Oct. 5. 800-955-5566 or tickets.com. Shawn colvin Rams Head Live in Baltimore on Oct. 11.

410-244-1131 or ramsheadlive.com. STILL AVAILABLE DONNIE MCCLURKIN AND CECE WINANS George Mason University's Patriot Center in Fairfax, on Sept. 15. 410-410-547-SEAT or ticketmaster.com. kenny garrett Avalon Theatre in Easton on Sept.

28. 410-547-SEAT or ticketmaster.com. WAYMAN TISDALE AND MARION MEADOWS Lyric Opera House on Sept. 30. 410-547-SEAT or ticket master.com.

LISA marie presley The Birchmere in Alexandria, on Oct. 4. 703-549-7500. LEO kottke Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis on Oct. 12-13.

410-268-4545 or ramsheadtavern.com. NATHAN M. PITTS.