THE WORD
''SOUL FOOD''
MAY 4 2015
54:19
**********
1 New Word Order 03:33
2 Come By Here 05:40
3 When I See The Blood 05:35
4 Play All Day 03:48
5 Soul Food I 05:17
6 Sourl Food II 05:39
7 You Brought The Sunshine 03:18
8 Early In The Moanin' Time 03:00
9 Swanp Road 04:31
10 Chocolate Cowboy 03:03
11 The Highest 03:51
12 Speaking In Tongues 03:26
13 Glory Glory 03:30
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Robert Randolph/Pedal Steel Guitar, Vocals
John Medeski/Keyboards, Vocals
Luther Dickinson/Electric Guitar, Dobro
Cody Dickinson/Drums Washboard
Chris Chew/Bass Guitar, Vocals
Ruthie Foster/Lead Vocals On 3
Amy Helm/Lead Vocals On 13
Jennifer Hartswick/Vocals On 2
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REVIEW/AMG
THOM JUREK
Fourteen years elapsed between the Word's raucous self-titled debut offering and Soul Food. All the members of this supergroup - pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph, keyboardist John Medeski, and the North Mississippi Allstars Chris Chew, Cody and Luther Dickinson - have had full and demanding careers in the interim. Randolph was only 22, had played one gig outside his church, and had just one released track when he joined his bandmates in 2000. Soul Food was cut in New York and at Willie Mitchell's Royal Studio in Memphis, and picks up where its predecessor left off. Musically, this is a much tighter record -- none of these tunes get to the six-minute mark -- but the raw, joyous, exploratory spontaneity remains; it's just more focused. Blues, R&B, and gritty roots rock & roll are plentiful here, as is a more formal approach to gospel, but there are other sounds too. On the first soul-drenched single (and album opener), "New Word Order," gritty Southern R&B meets the prophetic Pentecostal tradition of Randolph's spiritual home, the Church of God in Christ. On "Come by Here," a squalling minor-key juke joint blues runs head-on into pre-Thomas Dorsey African-styled chants in a chorale of male voices. Randolph's solo screams atop Medeski's spiraling B-3 and keyboards and Luther's razored fills. Suggesting a young Mavis Staples, Ruthie Foster guests on "When I See the Blood," a straight-up Southern gospel romp. Randolph and Medeski trade fills and fours throughout, and the entire clattering rhythm section gets as funky as it does gritty. The first of the two parts of the title track is framed inside a breezy Polynesian vibe, kissed by soul, while the second crosses funky R&B guitar with martial snares and breaks, punchy organ chords, and Randolph's many-toned pedal steel coloring in the frames. It eventually becomes a rave-up where the spirit of the Allman Brothers Band (whose second "home" was playing N.Y.C.) meets the groove of Otha Turner's Fife and Drum Corps at Stax! "You Brought the Sunshine" is straight-up reggae with a dubwise Chew bassline framing a gospel piano, bluesy pedal steel, and jazzed-up B-3 and guitar vamps. "Swamp Road" feels like Booker T. & the MG's playing in a shake shack. Luther's tough jazz-blues solo above Cody's in-the-pocket beat steals the cut. Amy Helm duets with Luther on the set closer, "Glory Glory." What begins as a rowdy country boogie becomes a Southern-fried country gospel stomper, adorned by Wurlitzer piano, hard-swinging acoustic six-string with flatpicking breaks, brushed toms and snares, thumping standup bass, and wily pedal steel. It's a fitting sendoff because it is an affirmation of all the Word express as a band. All these years on, Soul Food may sound as revolutionary as its predecessor, but it is stronger and far more adventurous musically.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
John Duffy
A blues/jam rock supergroup consisting of brothers Cody and Luther Dickinson, and Chris Chew (collectively, they formed North Mississippi Allstars), John Medeski (one-third of jazz-funksters Medeski, Martin & Wood), and gospel/pedal steel phenomenon Robert Randolph (of the famed Sacred Steel series on Arhoolie and his Family Band). Long a dream project of the Dickinsons and Medeski, the gospel album finally came to be with the inclusion of Randolph, a player whom the two had long admired and tried to seek out, though he, 22 years old and a law clerk by day, had recorded only one commercially available tune ("Without God," included on Sacred Steel Live). By the time Dickinson and Medeski tracked him down through Steve Earle sideman/producer Eric Roscoe Amble, Randolph had played only one non-church gig, at New York's famed Bowery Ballroom. Three days of jamming and recording in October 2000 at MMW's Brooklyn studio yielded The Word, released in July of the following year. The group toured briefly that summer in support of the album. Given how busy each of the collective’s various members subsequently became, they didn’t record a follow-up for 14 years. Soul Food, featured all the original members plus guest vocalists Ruthie Foster and Amy Helm, was released by Vanguard in May of 2015.
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
**********
''SOUL FOOD''
MAY 4 2015
54:19
**********
1 New Word Order 03:33
2 Come By Here 05:40
3 When I See The Blood 05:35
4 Play All Day 03:48
5 Soul Food I 05:17
6 Sourl Food II 05:39
7 You Brought The Sunshine 03:18
8 Early In The Moanin' Time 03:00
9 Swanp Road 04:31
10 Chocolate Cowboy 03:03
11 The Highest 03:51
12 Speaking In Tongues 03:26
13 Glory Glory 03:30
**********
Robert Randolph/Pedal Steel Guitar, Vocals
John Medeski/Keyboards, Vocals
Luther Dickinson/Electric Guitar, Dobro
Cody Dickinson/Drums Washboard
Chris Chew/Bass Guitar, Vocals
Ruthie Foster/Lead Vocals On 3
Amy Helm/Lead Vocals On 13
Jennifer Hartswick/Vocals On 2
**********
REVIEW/AMG
THOM JUREK
Fourteen years elapsed between the Word's raucous self-titled debut offering and Soul Food. All the members of this supergroup - pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph, keyboardist John Medeski, and the North Mississippi Allstars Chris Chew, Cody and Luther Dickinson - have had full and demanding careers in the interim. Randolph was only 22, had played one gig outside his church, and had just one released track when he joined his bandmates in 2000. Soul Food was cut in New York and at Willie Mitchell's Royal Studio in Memphis, and picks up where its predecessor left off. Musically, this is a much tighter record -- none of these tunes get to the six-minute mark -- but the raw, joyous, exploratory spontaneity remains; it's just more focused. Blues, R&B, and gritty roots rock & roll are plentiful here, as is a more formal approach to gospel, but there are other sounds too. On the first soul-drenched single (and album opener), "New Word Order," gritty Southern R&B meets the prophetic Pentecostal tradition of Randolph's spiritual home, the Church of God in Christ. On "Come by Here," a squalling minor-key juke joint blues runs head-on into pre-Thomas Dorsey African-styled chants in a chorale of male voices. Randolph's solo screams atop Medeski's spiraling B-3 and keyboards and Luther's razored fills. Suggesting a young Mavis Staples, Ruthie Foster guests on "When I See the Blood," a straight-up Southern gospel romp. Randolph and Medeski trade fills and fours throughout, and the entire clattering rhythm section gets as funky as it does gritty. The first of the two parts of the title track is framed inside a breezy Polynesian vibe, kissed by soul, while the second crosses funky R&B guitar with martial snares and breaks, punchy organ chords, and Randolph's many-toned pedal steel coloring in the frames. It eventually becomes a rave-up where the spirit of the Allman Brothers Band (whose second "home" was playing N.Y.C.) meets the groove of Otha Turner's Fife and Drum Corps at Stax! "You Brought the Sunshine" is straight-up reggae with a dubwise Chew bassline framing a gospel piano, bluesy pedal steel, and jazzed-up B-3 and guitar vamps. "Swamp Road" feels like Booker T. & the MG's playing in a shake shack. Luther's tough jazz-blues solo above Cody's in-the-pocket beat steals the cut. Amy Helm duets with Luther on the set closer, "Glory Glory." What begins as a rowdy country boogie becomes a Southern-fried country gospel stomper, adorned by Wurlitzer piano, hard-swinging acoustic six-string with flatpicking breaks, brushed toms and snares, thumping standup bass, and wily pedal steel. It's a fitting sendoff because it is an affirmation of all the Word express as a band. All these years on, Soul Food may sound as revolutionary as its predecessor, but it is stronger and far more adventurous musically.
**********
BIOGRAPHY/AMG
John Duffy
A blues/jam rock supergroup consisting of brothers Cody and Luther Dickinson, and Chris Chew (collectively, they formed North Mississippi Allstars), John Medeski (one-third of jazz-funksters Medeski, Martin & Wood), and gospel/pedal steel phenomenon Robert Randolph (of the famed Sacred Steel series on Arhoolie and his Family Band). Long a dream project of the Dickinsons and Medeski, the gospel album finally came to be with the inclusion of Randolph, a player whom the two had long admired and tried to seek out, though he, 22 years old and a law clerk by day, had recorded only one commercially available tune ("Without God," included on Sacred Steel Live). By the time Dickinson and Medeski tracked him down through Steve Earle sideman/producer Eric Roscoe Amble, Randolph had played only one non-church gig, at New York's famed Bowery Ballroom. Three days of jamming and recording in October 2000 at MMW's Brooklyn studio yielded The Word, released in July of the following year. The group toured briefly that summer in support of the album. Given how busy each of the collective’s various members subsequently became, they didn’t record a follow-up for 14 years. Soul Food, featured all the original members plus guest vocalists Ruthie Foster and Amy Helm, was released by Vanguard in May of 2015.
**********
WEBSITE
**********
TO THE TOP
**********
