Moonshine Society Sweet Thing

Moonshine Society
Sweet Thing
Mojo Music Group

"Sweet Thing" is the second album by the DC area band, Moonshine Society. The core of the band is guitarist Joe Poppen and vocalist Black Betty (Jenny Langer), along with bassist Chris Brown and drummer Rodney Dutton and they have developed their blues and roots music stew. Lending support on some of the tracks are keyboardists Wes Lanich and Benjie Porecki, bassist Tod Ellsworth, and the horns of the great Ron Holloway, Vince McCool and Ken Wenzel. Jason Ricci's harmonica was added onto two tracks. Black Betty and Poppen, when not fronting Moonshine Society, are members of The Ron Holloway Band.

There is a fascinating mix of blues, blues-rock, and soul starting with the opening title track that was penned by Langer. It might be viewed as an answer song to Muddy Water's "Mannish Boy," with Ricci providing some energetic harmonica behind Langer's insistent vocal as she tells her man not to play games with her. "Shake" has a nice groove with a riff that evokes Nick Gravenites "Born in Chicago." Langer sings about going out and dancing the night away with Poppen laying down some fiery single note runs while Holloway has a booting solo. A particular standout selection is the reworking of the Ruth Brown hit, "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean." It is set to a New Orleans second-line groove with Porecki on piano laying down some Crescent City styled piano. Vince McCool takes a brief, fiery trumpet solo, and Holloway on tenor sax and Wenzel on baritone sax take robust solos with the three horns leading the second line until performance fade out. Langer's "Come On Home" is a stunning performance in a Memphis soul style with Porecki channeling Booker T and Poppen evoking Steve Cropper.

There is a tribute to Johnny Winter on "Southern Road," which is more in a blues-rock vein with Ricci adding to this wide-open performance. Another highlight is a mash-up of Bill Withers' "Use Me" and Dr. John's "On Gilded Splinters," with her striking vocal backed by Poppen's explosive blues-rock guitar. Langer ably covers Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind," with a nicely shaped guitar solo and backing Langer whose vocal builds with passion as the performance unfolds. "Deal the Devil Made" contrasts with a more restrained vocal and backing. Poppen takes a solo on acoustic guitar on this selection.

A bonus track, "The One Who Got Away," is included. It was recorded in cooperation with "Cancer Can Rock," with a different backing band but also serves as another example of Langer's powerful, focused singing. It adds to the pleasures of an impressive recording.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is a video of a recent live performance of "Sweet Thing."

 

Aliquo/Adair Too Marvelous For Words

I recently had the pleasure to write about saxophonist Don Aliquo with respect to his fine work with a quintet co-led with trumpeter Clay Jenkins. The Nashville based saxophonist has a new release with Nashville pianist Beegie Adair and her trio (bassist Roger Spencer and drummer Chris Brown) "Too Marvelous For Words" (Adair Music Group). On this collection of standards they were trying to generate "a vintage, mid-fifties, Bebop feel …," to quote Ms. Adair, and the result is splendid.

There is some exceptional music here as this quartet delve into several classics from the American Songbook, along with three compositions from Billy Strayhorn as well as a Thelonious Monk standard. Opening with Strayhorn's "Johnny Come Lately," Aliquo displays a dry tone and cool sound on his tenor that might be likened to the dry martini alto of the late Paul Desmond, and is very much in the manner of the likes of Zoot Sims and Stan Getz. He spins his marvelous solo as the trio provides a swinging foundation (with Brown nifty with the brushes) before Adair takes a solo displaying her touch and crisp playing and then the two trading fours with Brown to ride this performance out. Then the pace picks up on a spirited "This Can't Be Love," on which the interplay between Aliquo and Adair suggest to me some of those swinging Pablo recordings that paired Zoot Sims with Jimmy Rowles.

A lovely rendition of another Strayhorn classic "Daydream" is a showcase for Aliquo's ballad playing, while a brief Brown solo sets the mood for a bouncy rendition of Monk's "Bye-Ya." "Ishafan" is the last of the Strayhorn interpretations and the restraint of the rhythm section helps contribute to its dreamy feel. It is followed by the bubbly, latin-accented "All or Nothing At All," and the late in the evening mood of the rendition of the Tadd Dameron-Carl Sigman ballad, "If You Could See Me Now." Aliquo and the trio are quite vibrant on the Johnny Mercer and Richard A. Whiting penned title number.

Don Aliquo again shows himself to be a saxophonist of nuance and imagination while Beegee Adair was a revelation to these ears. Her trio is terrific and I envy the folks in Nashville who get to see these artists on a regular basis. Mike Longo in the liner notes writes about "Too Marvelous For Words," "What a delightful album!" It is easy to agree with that assessment of this excellent recording.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here they are performing Billy Strayhorn's "Ishafan."

Moonshine Society's Live Time In Shanghai

The Washington DC area band Moonshine Society, accompanied by harmonica master Charlie Sayles, spent three months playing six nights a week at The House of Blues and Jazz in Shanghai, China. During their engagement they were recorded live and the result is the self-produced CD, Live In Shanghai. The music of Moonshine Society is anchored around the vocals of Jenny ‘Black Betty’ Poppen and her husband Joe Poppen on guitar. They met at Berklee in Boston and moving down to the Washington DC area where they performed and mentored by Memphis Gold and others. In Shanghai the band included bassist Chris Brown and drummer Brett Byars in addition to Sayles. They are tight and functional band and with this small group the focus is on Jenny’s vocals, Joe’s fiery guitar and Charlie’s harp, with the bass and drums providing the setting.

Very little in the nature of surprises in the songs included which include a variety of familiar blues and blues-influenced pop material. Opening is the Al Jackson and Timothy Matthews tune that was a hit for Ann Peebles and later Albert King, Breaking Up Somebody’s Home. It establishes Jenny’s presence as a singer and Joe’s energetic guitar playing. Charlie Sayles is spotlighted as vocalist on Jimmy Reed’s Bright Lights, Big City which allows him to shine. Poppen pulls out all the stops on a lengthy solo during Love Me Like a Man on which Jenny sounds really tough singing while Charlie’s harp is in the back ground. They return to Jimmy Reed on Big Boss Man, with a choppy shuffle beat (but they don’t capture the restrained, unhurried feel of Reed’s original) although Sayles takes a strong harp solo. This is followed by a lovely, nuanced rendition of the Roberta Flack hit, Killing Me Softly benefiting from an understated vocal and spare backing,

Lazy Lester’s swamp blues shuffle Sugar Coated Love follows and is a rocking performance with Sayles’ harmonica again prominent along with Joe Poppen in the accompaniment. Jenny’s low-key vocal on Lisa Mill’s Better Than This is a lovely blues and rhythm ballad performance that is complemented by Joe’s restrained playing. Following is a nice shuffle medley of the classic Rock Me Baby (with more harp from Sayles) and Slim Harpo’s Te Ni Nee Ni Nu, with Jenny certainly asserting herself as sing sings “rock me like my back ain’t got no bone,” with Poppen stinging when they transition into a funk groove on the latter number. They get down into the alley on Albert Collins’ Do What You Want to Do, a lengthy slow blues performance with a short break from Sayles and a lengthy guitar solo. Not mentioned on the back cover is an atmospheric solo bass guitar rendition of The Beatles’ Michelle.

Moonshine Society‘s Live in Shanghai is an entertaining album with strong singing and solid musicianship. One can purchase the CD at their shows or as downloads from http://www.reverbnation.com/store/index/artist_670417. It is also available as a CD or download at cdbaby.com and iTunes.

This review originally appeared in the February 2012 Capital Blues Messenger, the DC Blues Society newsletter.