[Dixielandjazz] Dr. John reviewed - Buffalo News, August 17, 2014

[Tim Eldred]

Just listened to the album - very eclectic, with some arrangements that sound to me like the 60's lush sound and others that are very funky.  Some songs I was unfamiliar with in the Armstrong lexicon.  My favorite is Hunk o' Trash, just for the sheer fun of it.  Great guest artists, with marvelous trumpet work...a definite must for Dr. John fans.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dixielandjazz [mailto:dixielandjazz-bounces at ml.islandnet.com] On Behalf Of Robert Ringwald
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2014 9:52 PM
To: julepjerk at surewest.net
Cc: Dixieland Jazz Mailing List
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Dr. John reviewed - Buffalo News, August 17, 2014

Dr. John: Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit of Satch (Concord) by Jeff Miers Buffalo News, August 17, 2014 Well, if anyone seems well-suited to tackling a tribute to Louis Armstrong, it's Dr. John, one of the funkiest white men to ever emerge from New Orleans. This is not the first time the good doctor has paid "Props to Pops" -- he presented concerts beneath that moniker in New York in 2012 and Hollywood in 2013 -- but for the "Ske-Dat-De-Dat"
sessions, "the Night Tripper" attempted to channel the Armstrong vibe through his own decidedly funk-inflected take on New Orleans music. He got a lot of help here, from the likes of trumpeters Nicholas Payton and Terence Blanchard, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and a ridiculously abundant list of virtuoso blues, soul, R&B and gospel singers, among them Bonnie Raitt, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Ledisi, Anthony Hamilton and Shemikia Copeland. Most of the time, it works. The doctor's vocal phrasing and sly, snaky Professor Longhair-inspired piano comping is a natural fit for the Armstrong-associated material, and many of the guest vocal spots are close to transcendent, particularly Raitt's take on "I've Got the World on a String" and the Blind Boys of Alabama's church-soaked "What a Wonderful World" and "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams." Of course, Armstrong's greatest gift to the world was his trumpet playing, which laid the template for what we now understand as jazz, and paved the way for bebop. So this album needed some trumpet muscle, and it got some from Payton (a fiery "Gut Bucket Blues") and Blanchard (a bold and brassy "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams"). Dr. John has said that the inspiration for the creation of "Ske-Dat-De-Dat" came to him from a dream in which he was visited by Armstrong, who "told me, 'Take my music and do it your way.'"
That's exactly what ended up going down, and with the possible exception of "Mack the Knife" -- this one could've done with a more strict reading of the melody -- Dr. John has crafted a collection that both captures and celebrates "The Spirit of Satch."
-30

-Bob Ringwald K6YBV
www.ringwald.com
916/ 806-9551

“Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.”
- Winston Churchill

_______________________________________________
To unsubscribe or change your e-mail preferences for the Dixieland Jazz Mailing list, or to find the online archives, please visit:

http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz



Dixielandjazz mailing list
Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com