This
hour-long groove-jazz workout unites Galactic drummer Stanton
Moore with 20th Congress keyboardist Robert
Walter, guitarist Will Bernard and
brass masters Skerik (sax) and Mark
Mullins (trombone). The session
is
nothing short of exhilarating. For his third solo album (he’s
also recorded six
with Galactic and three with Garage a Trois), the ubiquitous New
Orleans-bred
trap artist follows Walters’ estimable leads (he penned half
the tunes,
which are all instrumentals). His infectious B-3 organ stirs up
jams like a
zydeco squeezebox. Moore, who’s suffered from Katrina like
all other New
Orleans residents, closes the CD with a three-song tribute to the
Big Easy
(including a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee
Breaks”). But III does-n’t
give in to somber contemplation; it reminds us that getting down
is the
best way to get on up. Steve Bloom
by Dylan and a band sound that resembles any modest middle-American
heartland group, heavy on acoustic guitars backed with electrics,
Bern
traverses a universe he can’t quite comprehend: “And
I’m lost, crazy lone-some
/ A plane with no place to land.” His words work overtime,
but his
chords grow weary. By the album’s finale, “Another
Man’s Clothes,” you’ve
heard his every melodic contour. Bern has enough to say, but could
use a few
new ways to say it. - Steve Bloom
This
hour-long groove-jazz workout unites Galactic drummer Stanton
Moore with 20th Congress keyboardist Robert
Walter, guitarist Will Bernard and
brass masters Skerik (sax) and Mark
Mullins (trombone). The session
is
nothing short of exhilarating. For his third solo album (he’s
also recorded six
with Galactic and three with Garage a Trois), the ubiquitous New
Orleans-bred
trap artist follows Walters’ estimable leads (he penned half
the tunes,
which are all instrumentals). His infectious B-3 organ stirs up
jams like a
zydeco squeezebox. Moore, who’s suffered from Katrina like
all other New
Orleans residents, closes the CD with a three-song tribute to the
Big Easy
(including a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee
Breaks”). But III does-n’t
give in to somber contemplation; it reminds us that getting down
is the
best way to get on up. Steve Bloom
by Dylan and a band sound that resembles any modest middle-American
heartland group, heavy on acoustic guitars backed with electrics,
Bern
traverses a universe he can’t quite comprehend: “And
I’m lost, crazy lone-some
/ A plane with no place to land.” His words work overtime,
but his
chords grow weary. By the album’s finale, “Another
Man’s Clothes,” you’ve
heard his every melodic contour. Bern has enough to say, but could
use a few
new ways to say it. - Steve Bloom 