Tim Niland is a lifelong jazz and blues fan, who
began blogging about music five years ago. In real life, he is a
public librarian living in New Jersey.
The good doctor is one angry unit. War, natural disaster, and global warming are destroying everything that he holds dear, and the government does nothing but turn a blind eye to the war profitters making a bundle off of the bodies of the fallen. But instead of hanging his head in despair, he his fighting the good fight by putting together this excellent album filled with topical songs that shine a lighton the shameful state of affairs.
“Keep on Going” and “Time for a Change” set the tone for the album, with the band laying down a great foundation of swampy blues, Dr. John rippling the piano like Professor Longhair and singing strongly. He drops the hammer with “Black Gold” calling out the politicians that would throw away their decency and the lives of others for oil, and “My People Need a Second Line” which starts out as a mournful look at post Katrina New Orleans, before kicking out of the depression with a second line strut, it is a masterful performance.
This is a very good album, and all the more so for the courage that Dr. John is showing in the songwriting and performing. This thoughtful and topical album is very highly recommended.
Topics:
blues ,
drjohn
This two CD set brings together some very intense and transitional music recorded by John Coltrane in 1965. This was a fascinating period in his career, as his longtime quartet with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums... Read More Topics:
jazz ,
johncoltrane
For blues fans, the Juke or in this case Jook Joint has taken on the mystical place of a temple, where the Word of the blues is passed down from the musician-priests to the eager supplicants, who contort and speak in tongues on the dance floor. This... Read More Topics:
blues ,
variousartists
“Big” John Patton never quite achieved the fame of fellow organists Jimmy Smith or Brother Jack McDuff, but he was a potent and soulful force on the instrument in the 1960’s, cutting some well received albums for Blue Note before drifting... Read More Topics:
jazz ,
bigjohnpatton
Anthemic sounding rock 'n' roll with the "big" sound like Bruce Springsteen, Arcade Fire, et. al. The character studies are quite interesting, almost beat like in their studies of the underside of American youth. Musicians running from the... Read More Topics:
rockandroll ,
theholdsteady
Watermelon Slim and the Workers play the straight-up workingman's blues, for people who walk the hard road every day and are trying to make ends meet. Slim has been a soldier, truck driver and everything in between, and their latest album continues their... Read More Topics:
blues ,
watermelonslim
Like many of the legends of the blues, guitarist Earl Hooker moved to Chicago in the post-war years from his birthplace of Mississippi. Earning a place for himself in the pantheon with his unique slide guitar and his aversion to singing, Hooker never... Read More Topics:
blues ,
earlhooker
In some recent pictures, guitarist Marc Ribot looks like that professor you had in college… complete with scruffy salt and pepper hair and a wry smile. But this belies the heart of a radical musical polymath that still beats within him. Jumping... Read More Topics:
jazz ,
marcribot
The Allmusic blog has anice post about the music of trumpeter Woody Shaw:"Although Shaw would continue to record for various labels up until his tragic death in 1989, he never quite achieved the commercial success he deserved. Nonetheless, he is... Read More Topics:
jazz ,
blues ,
woodyshaw
John Zorn - Filmworks XIX (Tzadik, 2008): For this release, John Zorn puts down his saxophone and picks up his composing pen, to write eleven short sketches for the animated short film, The Rain Horse which was directed by Russian animator Dimitri Geller.... Read More Topics:
jazz ,
johnzorn ,
larryochs