It’s always Happy Hour (MoMojo Records) when Mitch Woods plays his brand of rock-a-boogie with his band The Rocket 88s. The longtime San Francisco boogie-woogie man (piano/vocals/production), on his 14th album, hits home hard on 13 originals. Our favorites: “Long, Lean & Lanky,” “Mr. Boogie’s Back In Town,” and “Mojo Mambo,” which has Kid Andersen adding guitar-hero antics. Dave Somers honks out the mighty sax and with a rampaging bass-drums rhythm section, the only thing left after repeated listening is to go see this dynamo live.
Pocket Change (Biglittle Records) by veteran drummer-singer-songwriter Andy Peake rocks. The follow-up to his 2021 Mood Swings debut, it features a who’s-who of A-List names from the bands of Marty Stuart, Delbert McClinton, Vince Gill, Levon Helm, Beth Hart, Joe Bonamassa, and Elvis Costello. Peake wrote seven of 10 songs, the highlights of which have to be “The Scuffle” (where rock’n’roll meets swing) and “So Many Drummers (So Little Time).” He revitalizes a lesser-known jewel from the Dan Penn catalog called “Somebody’s Gotta Do It” until it becomes a James Brown-styled jam. Peake, after playing drums for Tayna Tucker in the eighties, and providing pit percussion for the original Nashville presentation of Always…Patsy Cline, turned solo and sings with an unbridled fury and strength while incessantly pounding his snare and toms. Dude’s a monster.
Something About Believing (TMA Records) by the Tim Armacost Chordless Quintet has the New York Grammy-winning tenor saxophonist-composer-author delivering uninhibited deeply swinging improvisatory inter-activity between five master instrumentalists on material that goes from Monk (“Oska T”) and Ellington (the title track) to originals like the closing 9:54 of “Disunited States.” In their ninth year of playing together, they’ve honed their chemistry to the point where they instinctively know whereof each other goes. Plus, they’ve been in the bands of Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis and Chick Corea so you know this is primo. Trumpeter Tom Harrell, baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Al Foster are the best of the best.
the batch has to be “That Cat” by Mac Clinton & The Straitjackets for Mac is actually a very young Delbert McClinton. Then there’s Elton Anderson’s terrific retread of “Sick And Tired,” the 1958 Chris Kenner hit that Fats Domino improved upon in ’58. From Guitar Shorty and Little Luther to Little Esther and Lightnin’ Slim, these short bursts of pure energy strike at the juncture where rhythm’n’blues meets rock’n’roll.
Bryn Roberts is Aloft on his new Elastic Records recording. The longtime sideman pianist-composer, on his debut as a leader, has bassist Matt Penman and drummer Quincy Davis to flesh out his own production, arrangements, and compositions. The result is a mellifluous concoction of disparate elements of five originals and two deep-down treasure-find Broadway covers: “My Ship,” from 1941’s Lady in the Dark and “You Do Something To Me,” from 1929’s Fifty Million Frenchmen.
Found In Space: The Music Of Gregg Hill (Origin Records) by trombonist Michael Dease is a captivating tribute to composer Hill whose music knows no boundaries and has been compared to Zappa and Mingus. Dease has taken over from legendary ‘bone man JJ Johnson [1924-2001] as the preeminent trombone dude on the planet. Dease covering Hill? Genre be damned. This is exciting, energizing, energetic, entertaining stuff filled with the sounds of Dease’s ‘bone and bari sax with clarinet, flute, alto sax, tenor sax, trumpet, keyboards, bass, drums, and a liberal sprinkling of percolating percussion. As such, it’s a carnivalesque joyride worthy of inclusion on any 2024 Top 10.
