Not all that new, but who cares?

By GINA VIVINETTO, Times Pop Music Critic

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 16, 2000

OLD SKOOL VS. NEW SKOOL FEATURING ROB BASE & DJ E-Z ROCK WITH YOUNG MC. 9 p.m. Saturday, Jannus Landing, downtown St. Petersburg. (727) 827-1518. Tickets through Ticketmaster, $18.

I'm confused about this double bill's title since both acts seem pretty "old school" to me.

Rob Base and his equally plucky cohort, the DJ E-Z Rock, are founders of "hip house," the brand of mid-'80s hip hop where dancing and fun reigned -- this was seconds before the "gangsta" rap of N.W.A. and the political leanings of Public Enemy forever toughened up the genre.

Best known for the sub woofer-shredding, bass heavy jams It Takes Two and Joy and Pain, the Harlem-based duo blended funky grooves and delightfully cavalier lyrics to get folks doing that thing, that primal thing music is supposed to make you do: dance.

Young MC -- remember him from his number 1 single Bust A Move? -- brings his clever lyrics to the mix.

I got more rhymes than the other guys do / They're just a monkey, I'm the whole damn zoo / I got more rhymes than water seen by a sailor / more than husbands of Elizabeth Taylor.

Word to your mother.

ACOUSTIC ALCHEMY AT TBPAC: 8 p.m. Monday. Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N MacInnes Place, Tampa; (813) 229-7827, (800) 955-1045 or 222-1082 (TDD for the hearing impaired). $20

British contemporary jazz guitar duo Acoustic Alchemy got its start in the mid-1980s working for Virgin Airlines, providing in-flight music on trans-Atlantic trips, and then branched out into a more Latin-influenced New Age sound.

Founding member Nick Webb, who played steel guitar, died in 1998 of pancreatic cancer. Webb's partner Greg Carmichael continues with a backup band of keyboards, percussion, bass and drums.

JUNETEENTH OF TAMPA BAY CELEBRATION: 1-8 p.m. Saturday. Campbell Park, St. Petersburg. Free.

Join WMNF 88.5 FM and Juneteenth of Tampa Bay for a community celebration with speakers and music that includes critically acclaimed blues and R&B singer E.C. Scott; Pocket Change, a funk outfit from Fort Lauderdale; Caribbean jazz band Claude and the Hot to Go Band; a hip hop showcase featuring local rappers and WMNF DJs Mad Linx and D. Money and the drums, dancing and African-style folklore of Dunedu Du.

THE GREAT AMERICAN MEDICINE SHOW: 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The State Theatre, 687 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg. (813) 416-8997. Admission is $6.

This is a fundraiser to contribute to the medical expenses for Lisa Cohen, owner of the Seventh Heaven Psychic Cafe in Ybor City, who has ovarian cancer.

Join local artists and musicians, including the Charming Hooligans, Ashes of Grisum, RhondaK and Annie Vox of NakedPoetry.com, guerrilla performer Sergio Vincent and DJ Max Matahari.

The event, hosted by Dr. Phineas Constantine, also features dancers, psychics, Sony Music giveaways and lip smackin' barbecue.

MOLTEN MIKE CD RELEASE PARTY: 5 p.m. Sunday. Skipper's Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa, (813) 977-6474. Admission is $5.

Guitarist Molten Mike (see Audio Files) plays hot jazz, Delta blues, a bit of slide. The guy can do it all. That's why they call him the "Buddha of the Bottleneck." Molten Mike: The Movie is an ambitious concept album.

GROOVEWELL CONCERT SERIES: 9 p.m. Wednesday. The Orpheum, 1902 Republica de Cuba (corner of 14th Street and Eighth Avenue), Ybor City, (813) 254-0759, http://www.groovewell.com. Admission is $5.

The Groovewell Series, celebrating cross-cultural musical diversity, continues with performances by African soukous favorites Orchestre Matata and jazz-funk newcomers Meadowlark.

Soukous is high-energy, guitar-driven dance music with origins in Cuban rumba. It was originally brought to the Congo by sailors in the 1940s. The six-piece Orchestre Matata is Florida's only soukous band.

Tampa quartet Meadowlark plays jazz-funk blending soulful New Orleans grooves, dub reggae, free improv and psychedelic jamming.

TEAM POP TRIVIA: The winner -- in fact, the only Team Popster -- who got last week's trivia question correct was Charlotte Kopczynski of Palm Harbor. Kopczynski knew that rock critic Lester Bangs died on April 30, 1982, while listening to the album Dare, by British pop band the Human League.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: In honor of Father's Day, which is Sunday: At the age of 17, legendary rock 'n' roll producer Phil Spector wrote this hit, whose title he lifted from the inscription Spector's mother had carved on his father's gravestone in Long Island. For the chance to have your name randomly drawn for a freshy fresh Times T-shirt, name the tune.

Fax entries to Team Pop Trivia (727) 892-2327, send e-mail to gina@sptimes.com or send your entry in an envelope as our ancestors used to: Team Pop Trivia, c/o Weekend, St. Petersburg Times, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33713. All mailed entries must be postmarked by Saturday (the day after we ask the question). Faxes and e-mail can come as late as Monday morning. Please include your full name and phone number.