Mint Condition for president, and B.B. King’s for V.P.—yes! Mint Condition lives up to the title of their 1996 third studio album, “Definition of a Band.” Think Earth, Wind & Fire, bring in Maze and Frankie Beverly, bring in 90s R&B/funk doused in the energy of the 2000s, then you have this band.
The show in Manhattan at B.B. King’s Bar and Grill was the epitome of excellence and the accumulation of 20 years of cool collaboration. Mint Condition, arguably the most underrated group to date, rocked the stage with an energetic ease and a frenetic commitment to deliver to their dedicated fans their entire worth. Blessed early on by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, embraced by Prince, a fellow Twin Cities Minneapolis-St. Paul musician, Mint Condition was always destined for greatness.
They left it all on the stage. They worked it out. Their dancing, swaying audience sweated it out. Williams’ scatting and coordinated vocals wore it out.
Their coordination was impressive and smacked of comfort, a familiarity and a respect of artists who have performed for soul-coated decades. Popular songs caressed the people-packed room, and additional vocals by this grateful, grown and sexy crowd seemed to inspire the live band even more.
Ricky Kinchen, Stokley Williams, Larry Waddell, Jef Allen and Homer O’Dell killed it. Instrumentation was tight. Singing was unsurpassable.
They brought us every song that made us love them in the first place: “You Send Me Swinging,” “Breakin’ My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes),” “What Kind of Man Would I Be,” “If You Love Me,” “You Don’t Have to Hurt No More.” And more, of course. Waited for “Not My Daddy,” with Kelly Price, but perhaps next time!
Coming off stage, in the green room, the band spoke to the AmNews, and I asked how they felt about the massive fan participation. “It gives us life,” said Williams. “Give life … it gives us life.”
As he mentioned on stage, Kinchen had in mind the police presence outside in Times Square, in the wake of the recent Dallas police killings. Saying the killings were atrocious, he noted, “You can’t keep pushing people.”
“They’ve kind of weaponized color,” said Waddell. “You’re Black, you’re automatically armed. Native Americans too. Hispanics they’ve been catching it as well. We absolutely abhor it. But, we understand that the systematic thing that is happening on the force—we wish it was an individual officer—but it is happening around the country.”
The full interview can be heard on “Back to Basics” Saturday, July 23, 2016, on AllBlackRadio.com with this reporter at 4 p.m.
As for the dedicated fan base, Kinchen declared, “It’s always good to keep packing them in, to have people still supporting you, people who believe in you. It’s beautiful.”