New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers - Vol. 2

New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers - Vol. 2 - Stony Plain

This is the second album from the New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers. As I noted in the review of Vol. 1, the genesis for the New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers was on a tour bus when Mavis Staples and Charlie Musselwhite hot the road together with the North Mississippi All Stars. Eventually, Luther Dickinson (guitar, mandolin, and bass) and his brother Chris (drums and washboard) sat down for a guitar jam with ex-Squirrel Nut Zippers leader Jimbo Mathus, along with their father, Jim Dickinson (on piano), and blues greats Charlie Musselwhite (on harmonica) and Alvin Youngblood Hart (guitar and mandolin) for a blues and roots music celebration under the rubric of the New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers. After Jim Dickinson died in 2009, the recordings hung out in archives until Stony Plain founder Holger Petersen heard about the sessions. He expressed his enthusiasm to release the recordings. Luther Dickinson and his partner/engineer Kevin Houston finished the production of this and the earlier album.

Things start with Charlie Musselwhite's "Blues For Yesterday," a song recently re-recorded with Elvin Bishop. In addition to his harmonica, there is some sterling slide guitar in the backing (by Hart?). Alvin 'Youngblood' Hart handles the vocal on the revival of the Sir Douglas Five rocker, "She's About a Mover." I assume Jim Dickinson played the cheesy Farfisa organ on this. 

Jimbo Mathus wrote and sings a raucous shuffle "Searchlight (Soon in the Morning)" with Musselwhite wailing on harmonica and Jim Dickinson rollicking on piano besides Mathus' effective guitar solo. Mathus' "Greens and Hams" is a marvelous original that evokes Tommy Johnson and Charlie Patton. Jim Dickinson is featured on four vocals, including a late in the evening sounding interpretation of Charles Mingus' "Oh Lord, Don't Let Them Drop That Atom Bomb On Me." One can hear another Dickinson vocal on a cover of Junior Wells' "Messin' With the Kid." This latter performance provides another showcase for Musselwhite's harmonica along with some stinging guitar (from Luther Dickinson?).

Musselwhite returns for the swamp blues feel of his topical original, "Black Water," which is followed by Alvin 'Youngblood' Hart's country blues original, "If Blues Was Money," with Musselwhite's harmonica supporting Hart's husky singing. Luther Dickinson might have added a mandolin to this track. Luther Dickinson's whiny slide guitar is at the fore for his thoughtful rendition of Earl Hooker's "Blue Guitar." Jim Dickinson closes this volume with an atmospheric cover of The Mississippi Sheiks' "Blues Is a Mighty Bad Feeling," with a steady groove, moody guitar, and harmonica. 

About the first volume, I concluded, "The performances are mostly top-flight, resulting in some serious fun." This quote also pretty much summarizes the music on this disc as well. Like the first volume, this album will have considerable appeal to blues and roots music fans. 

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is "She's About a Mover" from this album.

Alabama Slim The Parlor

Alabama Slim
The Parlor
Music Maker

Born Milton Frazier, Alabama Slim was scheduled to have a breakout performance at the 2020 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. That performance never happened because the Festival was canceled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. He grew up "listening to the old blues since I was a child. I spent summers with my grandparents who had a farm. Them old folks would get to moanin' while they worked, and I just started moanin' with them. That's where I learned to sing. When I got grown I formed a band and we played little juke joints in the '50s and '60s."

He moved to New Orleans in 1965 and started jamming with his cousin Little Freddie King. The two have become tight as brothers and also tight musically. It was while visiting Freddie King that Tim Duffy, of the Music Maker Foundation, discovered Slim. Post-Katrina, the two lived in Dallas initially and in 2007 recorded for Music Maker's album, "The Mighty Flood." Slim is also featured in the CD that is a companion to Duffy's photography book, "Blue Muse." The album title, The Parlor" comes from the recording studio that Slim with King and drummer Ardie Dean spent recording this album. Later, Matt Baker on bass and Jimbo Mathus on piano and organ were added to this recording.

The publicity for this recording observes "Slim and King's guitars interweave between Dean's mastery of the drum kit to create a driving boogie with Slim's soothing vocals sprawled out on top, reminiscent of John Lee Hooker." The album opens with the simple driving low-key boogie flavor of "Hot Foot." Little Freddie King takes the vocal on the driving "Freddie's Voodoo Boogie," a reworking of "Boogie Chillum," with an irresistible groove. "Rob Me Without a Gun" is a strong slow brooding performance with Mathus' light organ adding to the feel of the two guitars, while "Rock With Me Momma" is an easy Hooker shuffle evocative of Hooker's recording "Dimples." There is a bit of political commentary directed at a certain President in "Forty-Jive." "Midnight Rider" has a bit of the moaning blues feel of Junior Kimbrough, while the rendition of "Rock Me Baby" has a North Mississippi juke-joint flavor.

The album closes with the swamp blues styled "Down In the Bottom." After listening to this recording several times, I agree that the music here is reminiscent of John Lee Hooker, although I might describe it as Hooker-lite. This is not a criticism but reflects that Slim ably evokes Hooker's sound; however, he doesn't bring the same amount of authority that Hooker did. Having listened to the recording several times, I doubt that listeners will be disappointed by the music here. It is a highly entertaining recording of modern down-home blues.

I received my review copy from a publicist. This review originally appeared in the January-February 2021 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 394). I have made a couple minor edits. Since writing this review I noticed that I had reviewed a previous album by Alabama Slim, "Blue and Lonesome," back in  2011 that is not mentioned in my review. This is the link to that review. Here is Alabama Slim performing "Rob Me Without a Gun."

New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers

New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers
Volume 1
Stony Plain

As Luther Dickinson writes in the liner notes for this release, the genesis for the New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers was on a tour bus when Mavis Staples and Charlie Musselwhite hot the road together with the North Mississippi All Stars. Eventually, Luther (guitar, mandolin, and bass) and his brother Chris (drums and washboard) sat down for a guitar jam with ex-Squirrel Nut Zippers leader Jimbo Mathus, along with their father, Jim Dickinson (on piano), and blues greats Charlie Musselwhite (on harmonica) and Alvin Youngblood Hart (guitar and mandolin) for a blues and roots music celebration under the rubric of the New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers.

Word of this recording was mentioned only obscurely in interviews and referenced as a great old-school recording by those few witnesses. After Jim Dickinson died in 2009, it hung out in the archives until Stony Plain founder Holger Petersen heard about the sessions this year and expressed his enthusiasm to release it. Luther Dickinson and his partner/engineer Kevin Houston finished the production of the present album, which is the first volume. The second volume is scheduled for Spring 2021.

There are ten tracks with Musselwhite and Hart each singing three, while Jimbo Mathus and Jim Dickinson each singing two songs backed by varying configurations. There are times that the groove is straight Chicago blues as on Musselwhite's opening "Blues, Why You Worry Me." Musselwhite's vocals sound a bit more upfront than on some of his recent recordings while his harmonica has a full Mississippi sax sound, with Jim Dickinson strong on piano. In contrast, Musselwhite has a more measured vocal and on the Memphis Jug Band's "K.C. Moan," a performance with a skittle band feel and apt acoustic harp. A real surprise is his high-stepping reworking of "Strange Land" that he recorded on his first album some five decades ago.

Alvin 'Youngblood' Hart is among the finest interpreters of classic Mississippi blues as can be heard on renditions of Charlie Patton's "Pony Blues" and the Mississippi Sheiks' "Stop and Listen Blues." In addition to his robust singing, there is some sterling mandolin on "Stop and Listen." which is likely played by Luther Dickinson while Hart lays down the guitar parts. There is also an interesting cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Stone Free." Mathus is showcased on a brooding slow blues, "Night Time" (with terrific Musselwhite harp), and a raucous, jaunty skittle band rendition of "Shake It and Break It." Jim Dickinson handles the vocal on a bawdy "Come On In My House" with nifty mandolin and a rowdy cover of Wilbert Harrison's "Let's Work Together." The playing on this last number is a bit too busy.

There may be a few flaws here, but the long-overdue release of the first volume from the New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers should interest blues and roots music fans. The performances are mostly top-flight, resulting in some serious fun.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is a clip from 2008 of them performing "K.C. Moan."