My final list of outstanding releases. These are recordings that don't fall with the rubric of blues and/or jazz.
Deke Dickerson Live at Duff’s Major Label/ Hep 400. A record for guitar freaks. “Plenty of country swing and twang with some jazz and blues accents added, like James Burton meets Duane Eddy with other genre hopping just like the backing band of the Modern Sounds whose approach may be rooted more in jazz and swing traditions, but provides a thoroughly compatible and sympathetic backing …”
Johnny Moeller BlooGaLoo (Severn). Presently guitarist with the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Moeller “has been turning heads with his raw, soul-funk blues guitar playing that comes across as a wild blend of Freddie King, Jimmy Nolan, John Lee Hooker and Frankie Lee Sims. … Fans of raunchy blues guitar mixed with heavy doses of funk, and rock’n’roll will certainly find this latest effort by Johnny Moeller much to their taste.”
Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers Up In Flames (self-produced). Accordion playing son of Rockin’ Dopsie, this is exciting zydeco in vein of the legendary Clifton Chenier. About the Zydeco Hellraisers I wrote, “Rhythmically they are tight and in addition to Dopsie’s accordion playing, saxophonist may be as good as sax player in an zydeco band I have heard since Blind John Hart was with Clifton Chenier and Rockin’ Dopsie.”
Ensemble Fatien Seguenon Presents Ensemble Fatien (Threadhead Records). I had the pleasure of seeing this marvelous african-jazz ensemble that includes Jason Marsalis on vibrophones, Margie Perez on vocals and Dr. Michael White on clarinet at the 2009 Jazz and Heritage Festival. This album captures the lively and enticing music of that performance.
Red Baraat Chaal Baby (Sinj Records). Led by Sunny Jain, Red Baraat is a brass band based in the music of the Indian subcontinent with a fresh take on the modern brass band.
Derek Trucks Band Roadsongs (Sony). The Derek Trucks is often labelled as a blues band which does not credit the originality of their music enough. As vocalist Mike Mattison states about the Trucks Band, “This was a multi-generational, multi-cultural, and above all, live band.” The music here ranges “from the bluesy “I’ll Find My Way,” and “Down in the Flood,” from Bob Dylan’s songbook; reggae with a gospel tinge on “Sailin’ On,” as a homage to John Coltrane on the Mongo Santamaria classic “Afro-Blues”…”
This sampler provides a sample of the musical range within the BJU. The collection opens up with “Cataldo One” by Danish bassist Anne Mette Iversen, a rousing hard bop number with some tenor sax from Jerome Sabbagh and piano from Danny Grissett. It is followed by Adam Kolker’s strutting “Flag Day,” from a new Sunnyside album, with a band that includes John Abercombrie and drummer Paul Motion. Kolker’s dry tenor sax is very appealing to these ears and complemented by Abercombrie’s chords and single note runs. Just these two numbers one provide the listener with a sense of the variety to be heard. I am not going to run down all eight selections, but simply mention three more. Sunny Jain Collective is led by drummer and composer, Sunny Jain, and the track “Avaaz,” from the album of the same name mixes the sounds of his native India including sitar guitar and the vocals of Samita Sinha, with Steve Welsh’s emphatic tenor saxophone creating a wonderful blend of sounds. Another drummer, Rob Garcia, contributed the fascinating “Little Trees,” opening with some free sounding piano from Dan Tepfer, before tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger engages in some call and response with Tepfer as drummer Garcia and bassist Chris Lightcap answer and provide a responsive foundation.“After,” by tenor saxophonist Dan Pratt, is composition that evokes some of Abdullah Ibrahim’s ballads. The group that includes trombonist Alan Ferber, organist Jared Gold and drummer Mark Ferber, and opens with the leader’s bluesy saxophone and there is strong interplay here between Pratt and trombonist Alan Ferber.
“Brooklyn Jazz Underground, Volume 4” is a marvelous introduction to these independent and inspired musicians. BJU also has a series of podcasts where the musicians discuss their music at length from influences to their present objectives. This can be downloaxded from their website, www.brooklynjazz.org, and this writer has them on his itunes. Also listening to this sampler, has led to the purchase of several albums by these performers. More information on the artists and the recordings can be found on the BJU website and many of these artists have recordings available on cdbaby.
The review copy (or downloads) was sent by the publicity firm for the Brooklyn Jazz Underground.
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