From his madcap moniker to his conceptual mix of hip-hop tropes and Bitches Brew knockoff riffing, MC 900 Ft. Jesus is desperately wack, browbeatingly outré. In gnat-size print his lyrics devour the CD jacket – words enough for seven books of the Bible. He's trying, presumably, for neo-Beat Bukowski poetry on "Tiptoe Through the Inferno" and all 12 minutes of "New Moon," but his deranged persona is less entertaining than Napoleon XIV's, and his trips through the "dark side" meander. On trumpet he makes like Miles on the pleasant "Bill's Dream"; Vernon Reid guest stars among highly professional studio players, and Jesus' music is slick. If only it weren't swamped by 900 feet of words. (RS 690)

PAUL EVANS