Fantastic Negrito aims to lift spirits and pluck inspiration from 'the black-roots garden'

The musician known as Fantastic Negrito arrives at an old-school Hollywood bar for an interview, fresh from a stop at a favorite thrift store not far away where he's scored a couple more colorful additions to his wardrobe, including a striking orange Ben Sherman blazer that he said was a steal.

"I love mom-and-pop stores like that," said Negrito, 49, whose given name is Xavier Amin Dhprepaulezz and who notched an even bigger score earlier this year when his 2016 album, "The Last Days of Oakland," took the Grammy Award for contemporary blues album - a mighty feat for an independent artist putting out music on his own label.

"People want to talk to you. They're enthusiastic," he said of his experience at the Pineapple Mama boutique that the Bay Area artist frequents when he visits L.A. "They remember you, as opposed