ROBBEN FORD
''A DAY IN NASHVILLE''
FEBRUARY 3 2014
43:48
1 Green Grass, Rainwater 04:04
2 Midnight Comes Too Soon 04:55
3 Ain't Drinkin' Beer No More 05:19
4 Top Down Blues 05:10
5 Different People 04:10
6 Cut You Loose 06:08
7 Poor Kelly Blues 04:07
8 Thump and Bump 06:10
9 Just Another Country Road 03:42
Brian Allen/Bass
Robben Ford/Guitar, Vocals
Audley Freed/Guitar
Barry Green/Trombone
Wes Little/Drums
Ricky Peterson/Organ
REVIEW
by Thom Jurek (AMG)
NOLA-inflected R&B adorned Robben Ford's Bringing It Back Home in 2013, a collection of covers played by an all-star ensemble and highlighted by the guitar slinger's additional skills as a fine interpretive singer and arranger. When Ford began writing tunes for his follow-up he decided to lay them down in a way seldom employed these days: by recording the entire album in a single day. Ford convened a choice band -- guitarist Audley Freed, keyboardist Ricky Peterson, bassist Brian Allen, drummer Wes Little, and trombonist Barry Green -- at the storied Sound Kitchen Studio in Nashville, and set about recording a live record in a controlled environment. He wrote seven of the nine tunes here, and they walk the line between wonderfully contoured numbers that showcase his singing skills and contemporary and soul-inflected blues. The contribution from Green adds another dimension to the band's sound. Yes, it is polished, but both production and mix are empathic; despite the overdubs, the group's live energy comes through. Opener "Green Grass Rainwater" is shuffling, Southern R&B with excellent guitar fills and vamps, spare, layered, punchy trombone, and swirling B-3. It also features one of Ford's best vocals here. "Ain't Drinking Beer No More," with its swinging combination of B-3 and 'bone, is a high point. "Midnight Comes Too Soon" is a more conventional, contemporary blues, with Ford's guitar in trademark minor-key sting. "Top Down Blues" is a funky instrumental, with Allen's bass leading the charge. The twinned guitars and trombone add strut and swagger before Ford solos. There are two choice covers here: the burning "Cut You Loose" (first recorded by James Cotton) provides canny interplay between the guitarists and Peterson, Little's driving drum in the back, and Allen's rolling bassline. "Poor Kelly Blues," written by Maceo Merriweather, is done Chicago style. Slippery chord voicings by Freed support Ford's taut fills as the rest of the band rave up in the turnarounds. At first, "Thump and Bump," an instrumental jazz tune, seems an odd choice; it isn't, because it's a solid band showcase that reveals what they are capable of. "Just Another Country Road" is a jazzy R&B number that perfectly bookends the opener, featuring the entire band swinging hard. It's got an excellent chart and fills by Green, and it's the only place on the set that Ford really cuts loose. A Day in Nashville isn't raw, but it is immediate and soulful. It is the sound class musicians make when they simply get down to doing what they do best: playing together.
BIOGRAPHY
by Dan Forte
After leaving Ukiah, CA, and moving south to San Francisco to form the Charles Ford Band (named for their father) in the late '60s with harmonica player Gary Smith, brothers Pat (drums) and Robben (guitar) were enlisted by Charlie Musselwhite and were pivotal members of one of the best aggregations the harpist ever led. Leaving Musselwhite after recording Arhoolie's Takin' My Time, they recruited bassist Stan Poplin and younger brother Mark, then age 17, on harmonica and played under the name the Real Charles Ford Band. Heavily influenced by the original Butterfield Blues Band and the Chess catalog, the quartet was famous for their live jazz explorations -- often jamming for 30 minutes or more on a John Coltrane and George Benson tune -- and hear-a pin-drop dynamics (with Mark abandoning mike and amp to play acoustically into the room or Robben turning the volume all the way off on his fat-body Gibson L-5). Muddy Waters sat in with and praised the young band, and Chess Records even came courting, but the brothers split on New Year's Eve, 1971, recording their sole LP posthumously, as it were. Robben went on to major cult status via session work and sporadic solo releases, and after lengthy hiatuses Mark and Pat continue to gig around the Bay Area and Europe. Pat founded his own Blue Rock'it label, on which albums like The Ford Blues Band, Hot Shots and 1999 were released. The band's influence in Northern California is still enormous, particularly among guitar players who continue to ape licks Robben forgot two decades ago.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE
''A DAY IN NASHVILLE''
FEBRUARY 3 2014
43:48
1 Green Grass, Rainwater 04:04
2 Midnight Comes Too Soon 04:55
3 Ain't Drinkin' Beer No More 05:19
4 Top Down Blues 05:10
5 Different People 04:10
6 Cut You Loose 06:08
7 Poor Kelly Blues 04:07
8 Thump and Bump 06:10
9 Just Another Country Road 03:42
Brian Allen/Bass
Robben Ford/Guitar, Vocals
Audley Freed/Guitar
Barry Green/Trombone
Wes Little/Drums
Ricky Peterson/Organ
REVIEW
by Thom Jurek (AMG)
NOLA-inflected R&B adorned Robben Ford's Bringing It Back Home in 2013, a collection of covers played by an all-star ensemble and highlighted by the guitar slinger's additional skills as a fine interpretive singer and arranger. When Ford began writing tunes for his follow-up he decided to lay them down in a way seldom employed these days: by recording the entire album in a single day. Ford convened a choice band -- guitarist Audley Freed, keyboardist Ricky Peterson, bassist Brian Allen, drummer Wes Little, and trombonist Barry Green -- at the storied Sound Kitchen Studio in Nashville, and set about recording a live record in a controlled environment. He wrote seven of the nine tunes here, and they walk the line between wonderfully contoured numbers that showcase his singing skills and contemporary and soul-inflected blues. The contribution from Green adds another dimension to the band's sound. Yes, it is polished, but both production and mix are empathic; despite the overdubs, the group's live energy comes through. Opener "Green Grass Rainwater" is shuffling, Southern R&B with excellent guitar fills and vamps, spare, layered, punchy trombone, and swirling B-3. It also features one of Ford's best vocals here. "Ain't Drinking Beer No More," with its swinging combination of B-3 and 'bone, is a high point. "Midnight Comes Too Soon" is a more conventional, contemporary blues, with Ford's guitar in trademark minor-key sting. "Top Down Blues" is a funky instrumental, with Allen's bass leading the charge. The twinned guitars and trombone add strut and swagger before Ford solos. There are two choice covers here: the burning "Cut You Loose" (first recorded by James Cotton) provides canny interplay between the guitarists and Peterson, Little's driving drum in the back, and Allen's rolling bassline. "Poor Kelly Blues," written by Maceo Merriweather, is done Chicago style. Slippery chord voicings by Freed support Ford's taut fills as the rest of the band rave up in the turnarounds. At first, "Thump and Bump," an instrumental jazz tune, seems an odd choice; it isn't, because it's a solid band showcase that reveals what they are capable of. "Just Another Country Road" is a jazzy R&B number that perfectly bookends the opener, featuring the entire band swinging hard. It's got an excellent chart and fills by Green, and it's the only place on the set that Ford really cuts loose. A Day in Nashville isn't raw, but it is immediate and soulful. It is the sound class musicians make when they simply get down to doing what they do best: playing together.
BIOGRAPHY
by Dan Forte
After leaving Ukiah, CA, and moving south to San Francisco to form the Charles Ford Band (named for their father) in the late '60s with harmonica player Gary Smith, brothers Pat (drums) and Robben (guitar) were enlisted by Charlie Musselwhite and were pivotal members of one of the best aggregations the harpist ever led. Leaving Musselwhite after recording Arhoolie's Takin' My Time, they recruited bassist Stan Poplin and younger brother Mark, then age 17, on harmonica and played under the name the Real Charles Ford Band. Heavily influenced by the original Butterfield Blues Band and the Chess catalog, the quartet was famous for their live jazz explorations -- often jamming for 30 minutes or more on a John Coltrane and George Benson tune -- and hear-a pin-drop dynamics (with Mark abandoning mike and amp to play acoustically into the room or Robben turning the volume all the way off on his fat-body Gibson L-5). Muddy Waters sat in with and praised the young band, and Chess Records even came courting, but the brothers split on New Year's Eve, 1971, recording their sole LP posthumously, as it were. Robben went on to major cult status via session work and sporadic solo releases, and after lengthy hiatuses Mark and Pat continue to gig around the Bay Area and Europe. Pat founded his own Blue Rock'it label, on which albums like The Ford Blues Band, Hot Shots and 1999 were released. The band's influence in Northern California is still enormous, particularly among guitar players who continue to ape licks Robben forgot two decades ago.
OFFICIAL WEBSITE
No comments :
Post a Comment