Stew and Heidi Rodewald

photo by Jeff Fasano

I’m not sure what’s more interesting — the fact that the band is named Stew & the Negro Problem, or that the group describes itself as an “Afro Baroque cabaret ensemble.”

“That description was a phrase that my neighbor actually came up with, and I said, ‘Let’s use that, I like it,” says Mark Stewart, AKA Stew, who is the group’s frontman and primary lead singer, and who shares songwriting chores with bassist / singer Heidi Rodewald. “I think a lot of our music, comparatively speaking, is more ornate that what you hear from a lot of bands — it’s music that goes beyond just a couple of chords.”

Indeed, the group creates a lively, heady, sometimes amusing mix of psychedelia, cabaret, R&B, punk, gospel, jazz and more.

As for the name of the group: It’s partly satirical, obviously, given that Stewart is African-American. But Stewart also cites historical references as inspirations for the name. The phrase “the Negro problem” became popular in the late 19th century / early 20th century, due to the ongoing debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Dubois over how blacks should best integrate themselves into white mainstream society.

“And it was even used by Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s when he talked about blacks being disenfranchised,” reminds Stew, who brings the band to 523 South Main Street, the former Leopold Bros. building, for a three-night stand, presented by the University Musical Society.

“But when we chose the name, before our first album, back when we were primarily punk rockers, I was also thinking about some record company guy looking at our photo and seeing me, and thinking, ‘I like the music, but there’s just this Negro problem,’” says Stew, laughing, during a phone interview from the band's tour bus. “I think it reflected the sense of humor we had, as a punk band from L.A. at the time.

“And I think the name is especially fitting right now, given all of the problems my favorite Negro is now having to deal with,” cracks Stew, referring to President Obama.

The group released three critically acclaimed albums between 1997 and 2002 — “Post Minstrel Syndrome,” “Joys and Concerns” and “Welcome Black” — the latter of which was hailed by the New York Times as “the finest collection of songs an American songwriter has come up with this year.” But then, the Negro Problem band was put on the back burner after Stew and Rodewald wrote and starred in “Passing Strange,” a rock musical based on Stew’s life story. It went from repertory to Broadway, where it had a successful run and earned seven Tony nominations, winning one, for Best Book of a Musical.

Watch a performance of "Come Down Now" from "Passing Strange":

“Passing Strange” then captured the attention of Spike Lee, who turned it into a documentary, which premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and aired on PBS’s “Great Performances.”

So it was with great glee that Stew and Rodewald recently hooked up with the band again and hit the road to play their own singular brand of rock ‘n’ roll. “Doing the theater thing, there wasn’t a lot of opportunity for improvisation or spontaneity,” says Stew. “But with this constellation of musicians, we love to make things up on the spot, right on stage. So, every show we’ve done so far has been different, and we want to continue doing that.”

Stew & the Negro Problem will play four shows at the former Leopold Bros. building.

Another reason that Stew, Rodewald and the rest of the band are excited is that their set list includes several new songs they’re written and worked up for a new album. “It’s not completely finished yet, but we’ve pressed CDs of what we have so far, and we’ll be selling ‘em at the shows, although we do refer to it as a ‘work in progress,’ says Stew, as if offering a disclaimer. “It sort of offers listeners a ‘peek into the studio’ to hear how the record is progressing.

“When we do put the album out, a lot of the songs will probably still sound like they do on this disc, but if some of the songs start evolving in our live performances into something we like better, we’ll record the new versions and those will go on the record.”

Stew says the new music, generally speaking, is the same stylistic mix we’ve heard from them in the past, “except it’s jazzier — we have some horn players on it. It’s the jazziest record we’ve made so far. Not that it sounds like Duke Ellington or anything, but they played jazz changes over the top of these pop song structures.”

As for the collaborative songwriting process between him and Rodewald, Stew says that “we have an organic way of working together. She writes things I can’t, and vice versa. But we’ve been writing together for so long, it’s hard to keep track of who contributed what.

“I walked around for a while thinking I had written a certain section of a song, and then she reminded me, that, no, she had written it. But we both grew up in the LA area, went to the same clubs, heard the same bands — so we have a lot of the same influences.”

When asked whether he thinks the Negro Problem’s music, or songs, are subversive in any way, Stew replies: “Not in a political sense, but some of our songs might make people think about some things a bit differently. I do think we cause people to think differently about race.

“I think the name of the band is more subversive than anything — because, unfortunately, even today, there are still people in this country who think we have ‘a negro problem’ — and it’s not me.”

Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.