Olu Dara has just finished his sound check at Club Quattro when he breaks into a grin and waves enthusiastically from behind his mike. An instant later, he's hopped off the stage, bounded across the floor and is proffering his hand, as eager for the interview as a school kid for recess.
"Where ya from?" the 61-year-old musician asks, pumping my hand, "The Washington Post? Ha -- gotcha!"
Dara -- who was born Charles Jones in Natchez, Miss. -- is as slim and spry as a man half his age. His friendly demeanor does not prevent him from speaking bluntly at times but, at such moments, it is as if he is trying to pull the listener into his confidence rather than be combative.