Diversity. It's a mantra preached for our schools, our workplace and our government. Here at "Quickies," though, it's regularly put into action. That's especially true for this installment. We've got the gamut covered from progressive Northeastern American jazz to vintage Northeastern Brazilian jazz. From organic funk to Southern fried blues-rock. Yessir, it's a lineup that looks like America (and a little bit of Brazil).
Recent releases dominate as usual, but there's also a left-field choice from 1995 that deserves to be proselytized. With a lot of exciting fresh CDs out there I'd stuff twenty more records in this column if could. Alas, some of those are going to have to wait for a later episode of "Quickies" and then there's others best left to the more capable pens of others.
For now, though, let's join hands, sing "We Are The World" and partake in these deliciously varied morsels of ear food:
North Mississippi Allstars Hernando (Songs of the South)
On the same day that the Drive-By Truckers unfurled Brighter Than Creation's Dark, that other major Southern rock band of the current scene released theirs to somewhat less fanfare. Hernando marks the North Mississippi Allstars first offering in three years and the first since mentor RJ Burnside has passed away in 2005.
The NMA's station in life has been to provide a heavily amped version of Junior Kimbrough, and you have to wonder if success will cause them to stray from their straightforward but heavy-hitting mission. The name Hernando, their hometown situated about ten miles due south of Memphis, suggests that they won't. The opening "Shake" seems to confirm that they are staying on course, too.
However, things quickly get a little more varied; the following two tracks ("Keep The Devil Down" and "Soldier") employ more of an early Black Sabbath-vibe while conjuring up themes of heaven and hell. Champion Jack Dupree's "I'd Love to Be A Hippy" gets a delightful straight-blues reworking and feature a rare lead vocal by bassist Chris Chew. There's other change-ups: "Mizzup" is a lively jitterbugger while "Blow Up" is straight-up rockabilly. James Mathus lends his vocals for "Come Go With Me" before the album closes out with three tracks that return to the boys' traditional heavy blues-rock strengths.
Article comments
1 - El Bicho
Don't know if you heard: while Luther is out playing with the Crowes, the fellas got together a new outfit called Hill Country Revue. I like 'em a lot from the couple of tunes I heard on their MySpace page. I think you might as well.
2 - Josh Hathaway
My friend 11 went to high school with Jason Isbell, formerly of DBT.
3 - kate
there's also some great interview footage of luther dickinson (and jason isbell, separate).. at this link.