MARCH 2002

CD REVIEWS
STANTON MOORE
Flyin‚ The Koop
(Blue Thumb/Verve 314 549 788-2)
By Don Zulaica

New Orleans-born, -bred, and -based drummer Stanton Moore has come up with one mighty tasty heap o‚ grooves on his latest release "Flyin‚ The Coop." The veteran of Galactic and the New Orleans Klezmer All Stars tagged some fine talent to help him out, including bassist Chris Wood (Medeski, Martin & Wood), saxophonists Karl Denson (Greyboy Allstars and Tiny Universe) and Skerik (Les Claypool‚s Frog Brigade), New Orleans guitarist Brian Seeger, and even the vocals of the Wild Magnolias Mardi Gras Indians on "Fallin‚ Off The Floor."

You can feel the 26-inch bass drum from the opening of "Tang The Hump" as well as the frenetic closer "Organized Chaos." The album‚s genesis came from a "super jam" performance at the famous New Orleans club Tipitina‚s. A bunch of musicians improvising, and Moore ran with the idea with the peculiar dual-sax, guitar, bass and drums lineup.

Chris Wood, whether playing acoustic or electric bass, is simply one of the premier forward-thinking bassists of this genre, and really shines playing the melody of the 5/4 "Magnolia Triangle." Skerik‚s sax gets painfully distorted on "Things Fall Apart," and Moore‚s use of looping is so subtle and ingenious, you don‚t know where the taped loops stop and the live drumming starts.

This is way more varied than a Galactic or Klezmer recording, from the slow bolero of "Amy‚s Lament" to the maniacal "Launcho Diablo," but what makes the improvisations truly interesting is the fearlessness with using technology in the studio. If this is the future of jazz thinking, there‚s definitely light at the end of the tunnel. Credit to Blue Thumb and Verve for paying attention.