Production values tame reggae’s wild spirit

With roots deep in the mid-1960s Kingston, Jamaica, “rock steady� sound but exhibiting decades of evolution, the reggae giants who played the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday -- Jimmy Cliff, Toots & the Maytals and Freddie McGregor -- perfectly represented the syncretic tradition of Jamaican music and, one supposes, the post-modern message of KCRW-FM’s (89.9) World Festival at the Bowl. But other than spotty highlights, the slick, contemporary presentations made a lot of the show feel like “Reggae! The Musical!�

Cliff’s depiction of the gun-toting, drug-dealing singer in the 1973 cult film “The Harder They Come� cut a street-tough image that endeared the music to rockers and punks. When his young group took the stage Sunday looking like a high school jazz band, however, one was quickly reminded that his latest work was alongside Elton John on the “Lion King� soundtrack.

The ebullient Cliff launched them into a big-band disco version of “Reggae Nights,� among other production-number-style arrangements. He finally filled the aisles with dancers with his hit version of the 1970 Cat Stevens song “Wild World.�

Though the core of the reggae experience was still there, the Vegas touches left the performance feeling empty.

Toots & the Maytals seemed more down to earth, opening their set with their 1969 smash “Pressure Drop.� The band demonstrated the malleability of the form, switching up from roots rock to steaming, Otis Redding-style soul to straight-up Afrobeat. Though crooner McGregor also ran through an amazing number of his 1970s “lovers’ rock� hits, combining a reggae beat with smooth R&B;, many of them were covered in medley form.

The night was saved by Cliff’s last number, unplugged, on hand-drums and vocal harmonies, working through gospel-like verses including lines from “Rivers of Babylon.� This was the true spirit of reggae at last.