Tour unconventional to the core.

Byline: LEWIS TAYLOR The Register-Guard

THE ICICLE BALL is the jazzier, funkier, hip-hoppier half of SnoCore, an off-season tour that promises a midwinter buffet of musical acts for live-music junkies who just can't wait until summer.

The tour will stop in Eugene on Tuesday for a show at the McDonald Theatre.

"I think it's pretty brilliant to put the group of artists together that they've put together this year," featured performer Saul Williams said. "I think we all have something in common."

The SnoCore lineup varies from city to city, but the artists, like the tour itself, are all a bit unconventional. For the Eugene show, Williams, a poet/actor/hip-hop artist, will be joined by socially conscious hip-hop artist and soul singer Michael Franti and his band Spearhead, along with the innovative hip-hop act Blackalicious.

The headline act will be jazz/soul/hip- hop and groove specialist Karl Denson and his band, the Tiny Universe.

"The cool thing is that these are all bands we've been wanting to hang with," Denson said.

If Williams and Blackalicious are the crazy young experimentalists, Denson and Franti are the more seasoned musical fusionists. Other acts on the SnoCore bill that won't make it to Eugene include the Latin hip-hop act Ozomatli, soul-singer Nikka Costa and the electronic jam band Sound Tribe Sector 9.

The SnoCore Icicle Ball didn't stop in Eugene last year, possibly because the McDonald Theatre was not hosting live music events at the time. The SnoCore tour is a natural fit for the McDonald, which offers both intimacy and seating for nearly 800.

The second half of the tour, SnoCore Rock, is scheduled for the McDonald on March 21. The lineup for that show includes the hard rock band Adema and the Grammy-nominated Alien Ant Farm.

Here's more about two of the Icicle Ball performers.

Karl Denson

His dream is to work the room like a DJ works the room - only without a turntable.

"I always thought I'd like to approach it the way a DJ approaches it," Denson said in a phone interview from San Diego. "A DJ can be playing random cuts and then, at the appropriate time, he'll drop a vocal tune in."

To be able to drop those vocals into his songs without relying on a DJ, Denson, who already plays flute and several different saxophones, is picking up a new instrument: voice. He's the first to admit that his vocal cords need a little tuning, but he says he's making progress.

"I've been singing for about six or seven years now," Denson said, "and I'm just starting to feel comfortable. I've always been pushing in that direction, and, as a writer, I've always written vocally."

Denson's vocal explorations began when he was the sax man for pop star Lenny Kravitz. Kravitz provided voice lessons for Denson; in return, Denson sang background and blew some memorable solos on the albums "Let Love Rule" and "Mama Said."

After his departure from the Kravitz band, Denson teamed up with San Diego turntablist DJ Greyboy and recorded the 1983 hit "Unwind Your Mind" and "Freestylin',' a seminal acid jazz album. Denson and Greyboy formed the Greyboy Allstars, a groove band that blended funk, jazz and boogaloo.

In 1998, the Greyboy Allstars split up and Denson launched his own, more jazz-minded groove band, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe. The group cut a self-titled debut album, and last year it signed with Blue Note Records and released "Dance Lesson #2."

For the recording session, Denson augmented his normal band with guitarist Charlie Hunter, bassist Chris Wood (from Medeski, Martin & Wood) and turntable specialist DJ Logic.

With the Tiny Universe, Denson has continued to balance different styles and audiences, calling himself a jazz artist one moment and a funk player the next. He continues to attract jazz fans while also drawing from the hippie-jam-band circuit.

"We're trying to play dance music and we're trying to play jazz music," Denson said. "That's a hard thing to pull off."

Lately, Denson seems to have backed off from his usual refrain that he is a jazz artist and to have accepted the fact that what he is doing may be something that's not so easy to categorize. And at times, you get the sense that not even Denson is sure of the sound he's seeking.

"Sonically, we've been really challenged because we're trying to do this type of jazz and soul and hip-hop, and just trying to get the sounds right is a real chore," Denson said. "It's a lot about production. I can hear what I want, but telling an engineer is more difficult."

Denson also has been spending a lot of time playing on other musicians' albums. He will play sax on trumpeter Roy Hargrove's latest album, and later on, Hargrove will come back and play a part on Denson's new CD.

"It's fun, and there's no responsibility," Denson said. "You just bring your horn and play."

While working on Hargrove's album, Denson happened upon the studio engineer he was looking for and, he says, he's getting closer to reeling in his elusive sound. Also, Denson is growing more comfortable with his current band, which will play a more active role on the next album.

Currently, Denson's Tiny Universe features Brian Jordan (electric guitar, vox), Ron Johnson (electric bass, vox), David Veith (keys), Chris Littlefield (trumpet, vox), Mike Dillon (percussion) and Zak Najor (drums).

Denson has left Blue Note and plans to record his next CD on his own Restless Records. Along with the Tiny Universe, the album should feature Hargrove, former James Brown trombonist Fred Wesley and organist Lonnie Smith.

The record is scheduled for release in late summer. Before then, Denson has plans for an Australian tour, a gig at the Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans and a U.S. summer tour.

"I've got a five-year plan," Denson said. "I want to be way less busy by then."

Saul Williams

He calls himself an "amethyst rock star" - that's the title of his debut album - but the New York-bred artist, who started off reciting poetry at the famed Nuyorcan Poet's Cafe, is also part spoken-word artist, part actor, part hip-hop artist and part social commentator.

"It's amethyst rock, as opposed to crack rock," Williams said. "Amethyst enhances your connection to your spirit. I'm saying that I'm standing on the corner of these ghetto blocks selling this spiritual rock."

Speaking by cellular telephone from his car in Los Angeles, Williams is a long way from the ghetto, but "amethyst rock" is still relevant to his life. Not only is it the title of his new album - amethyst is also Williams' birthstone - but it's also the title of the first poem he ever wrote, a poem that figures prominently in the 1998 film, "Slam."

Williams starred in "Slam," which was a grand jury prize winner at the Sundance Film Festival. He played the role of a streetwise marijuana dealer who rescues himself with his poetry.

Before he became known as a movie star, though, Williams established himself as a central member of New York's urban poetry scene. He contributed poems to spoken-word collaborations, appeared in the documentary "Slamnation" and had one of his poems excerpted on the cover of The New York Times Magazine.

Following his "Slam" role, Williams published two books of poetry (`The Seventh Octave" and "She'), started a rock band and acted in the films "K-Pax" and "King of L.A."

After touring with his band, he signed a record deal with American Recordings and released "Amethyst Rock Star," which was co-produced by Rick Rubin, the co-founder of Def Jam Records.

Rubin did more than just help oversee Williams' record. He also helped smooth his transition from poetry to music. Williams said he started his music career by going to the New York rock club CBGBs and screaming as loud as he could.

Even though Williams' screams have developed into songs, rage is still a dominant theme. While he spits out rhymes (and a few words that definitely don't rhyme), his band lays down a curtain of squealing guitars, fluttering stringed instruments, thumping beats and noisy samples.

The overall effect is angry and disordered, not unlike the cacophony of a crowded subway car or the ambient sounds of a busy street corner.

"A lot of times there's a sense of frustration in my work," Williams acknowledged. `I write to fill the void between what I'm experiencing and what I'd like to be experiencing . ... Sometimes, it's just me coming out and saying, `Aaaaaaah.' '

Williams' music is indebted to both rock and poetry, but he draws most heavily from hip-hop. Raised on the early rhymes of Big Daddy Kane, Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions and other old-school artists, Williams found an outlet for his creative energy in hip-hop.

At the age of 13, he recorded a demo with the help of a local drummer, addressed it to Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons, and sent it to the address listed on the back of an LL Cool J album. Although he never got a response, Williams' affinity for hip-hop never left him.

"Personally, I think my music is closest to hip-hop," he said. "It also has a lot of rock elements and a lot of experimental elements, but the elements that comprise hip-hop are in me, so anything I do will be strongly connected to hip-hop.

`Whether it's hip-hop in a classical sense, I don't know."

Currently, Williams is working on a screenplay, something that he said may take him a year, or 10 years, to finish. He also has two books in the works, and after he's done with the SnoCore tour, he plans to go into the studio with his band and begin working on his second album.

Williams' music, like the rest of his work, is still decidedly New York, but now that he's living and working in Los Angeles, that's slowly changing. He finds it easier to work in the wide open spaces of the West, and, as a result, his art is becoming less labored and less condensed than it once was.

"I find that I'm writing more out here," Williams said. "In the same way that people came to the West and found it to be much more expansive, I've found my writing to be more expansive. Of course, I also need more editing."

Entertainment reporter Lewis Taylor can be reached by phone at 338-2512 and by e-mail at [e-mail].

SNOCORE ICICLE BALL

WITH: Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Blackalicious, Saul Williams

WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesday

WHERE: McDonald Theatre, 1010 Willamette St.

TICKETS: $25

ALSO: To hear music by artists featured in the SnoCore Icicle Ball, call GuardLine at 485-2000 and select category 9943

CAPTION(S):

SnoCore acts Tuesday at the McDonald Theatre include, from the top, Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Blackalicious and Michael Franti with Spearhead. Spoken-word artist and poet Saul Williams says his music trends toward hip-hop. SNOCORE ICICLE BALL WITH: Karl Denson's Tiny Universe, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Blackalicious, Saul Williams WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesday WHERE: McDonald Theatre, 1010 Willamette St. TICKETS: $25 ALSO: To hear music by artists featured in the SnoCore Icicle Ball, call GuardLine at 485-2000 and select category 9943 Hip-hop cool