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.

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."