POP MUSIC REVIEWS : ROOTED IN THE PAST

Strip away the charisma of Bob Marley and the visual color and backing harmonies of the I-Threes and you’re left with the archetypal roots reggae that the Wailers delivered at the Country Club Wednesday. Trimmed to a no-frills septet, the late Marley’s former band delighted the crowd of 500, but the 90-minute set raised questions about the future.

There were few problems in execution as the Wailers took most of the Marley standards that dominated the set at a slightly slowed pace. That gave such songs as “Rastaman Vibration” a brooding, bluesy power as the spotlight was on the trance-inducing rhythms generated by bassist Aston (Family Man) Barrett and drummer Carlton Barrett.

Guitarist Junior Marvin was at his best when simply singing with passionate dignity rather than trying to emulate Marley’s shaman stage persona. Marvin’s over-emoting detracted from “No Woman No Cry” and he resorted too often to the usual tiresome audience participation routines.

But the band unveiled only three new songs, which fell firmly in the classic Wailers vein with no drop-off in quality. Both a rap-style section of the new “Tradition” and Marvin’s canny, seamless incorporation of the chorus to “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” into Marley’s “Waiting in Vain” showed the Wailers can tune in to the contemporary pulse without pandering to it.

With the shortage of new material, the Wailers risk becoming a “K-Tel presents those fabulous reggae hits of the ‘70s” attraction. As the band that defined the sound of reggae for the world, the Wailers hold a valid claim on the Marley legacy, but if the group fails to utilize the past as a springboard to the future, it will be selling both itself and its audience short.