By Larry Nager
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Friday night, the Isley brothers turned Xavier University into Old School. But like most educational institutions, this one was under-funded.

Despite the presence of Cincinnati's first family of R&B - the only group of any kind to ever have hit records in six consecutive decades - the concert at Xavier's Cintas Center was marred by prom-quality sound and light systems. And although the venue was set up for 10,000, the show drew less than 5,000, and only half actually paid; the rest were given free tickets.

The cut-rate nature of the show could be seen in the three opening acts - Howard Hewitt , Kelly Price and local singer Big Jim - all of whom sang their hearts out - to backup tapes. No live musicians were seen onstage until two hours and 20 minutes into the evening, when the Isleys came on with their six-man band.

No one came for the opening acts, of course, and the Isleys delivered their usual dizzying time warp, zooming through 44 years of hits. What other lead singer can say, as Ronald Isley did, "Let's go back to 1962," and do the same song he sang then, in the same key.

With younger brother Ernie solemnly backing him on lead guitar, Ronald leafed through the Isley encyclopedia of hits, opening with "Between the Sheets" and going on to the rock of "Twist and Shout" (that hit from 1962), the funk of "That Lady," the Motown soul of "That Old Heart of Mine" and the song that started it all, 1959's "Shout."

Surprisingly, though he did "What Would You Do," the first hit from the new Body Kiss, Ronald waited until the last couple of songs before changing from his white suit into the k-garbed gangster Mr. Biggs, the phenomenally popular persona behind the Isleys' 21st-century hits.

After 2001's "Contagious," he went back to the Old School, closing the night with the '70s Isley classic, "Fight the Power," as Ernie churned out fiery lead lines and their four dancers boogaloo-ed furiously. But though the Isleys gave it their best shot, the sound remained as muddy and unbalanced as when they started 90 minutes earlier, and the crowd was leaving the arena as if it were on fire, leaving only a few hundred to hear the end of the song.

Right down to the crowd's early exit, the night was a miniature version of the old stadium soul fest, traditionally held on the last weekend of July. But at least "JazzFest," as it was known, used live musicians.

Hewitt, an Akron native best known as the leading man for the group Shalimar, did the best job of hiding his empty stage, doing his entire 45 minutes from the arena floor, surrounded by his fans. His high, smooth voice was in good form in delivering the Shalimar crossover hit, "Second Time Around" and some of his less memorable solo love songs.

Kelly Price's voice was even better, but she did her 25 minutes onstage, backed by three singers and her personal karaoke

Despite a strong, soulful baritone, local act Big Jim hasn't been able to find memorable material to match it.