CRITIC'S CHOICE

Bootsy Collins and His New Rubber Band, Saturday, October 29, at the Ogden Theatre, with Dread Zeppelin, is back, baby--but he never really went away. A star-eyed superman who brought his otherworldly personality and mastery of the space-bass to the JBs, Parliament/Funkadelic and his own wonderful solo work, Collins hasn't had his name above the titles of many albums lately, but he's become a sideman supreme: He's on the latest discs by the Golden Palominos, Praxis, Umar Bin Hassan and the Soup Dragons, among several others. Moreover, Bootsy is the subject of a recent, and invaluable, best-of collection issued on the Warner Bros. label. But the real news is Blasters of the Universe, a new double-CD manifesto (issued by Rykodisc) that serves as a reminder of just how loopy, danceable and original Bootsy's music is at its best. With funk making a comeback, it's only appropriate that the musician who gave the music its thump should return as well. Free your mind and your ass will follow.