03.11.2008
Spins: Jim Lauderdale, Maceo Parker, Jim Jones
Jim Lauderdale & The Dream Players
Honey Songs
Label: Yep Rock
If you like: Gram Parsons, George Jones, Brad Paisley, Buddy Miller
Song to download: “It’s Finally Sinking In”
3.5 stars
Singer and songwriter Jim Lauderdale - a native of Statesville (and a graduate of the N.C. School of the Arts) recently won a Grammy for The Bluegrass Diaries, his second Grammy in the bluegrass field.
But Lauderdale is also one of the most accomplished and prolific modern writers in country and roots music, something that is the focus of Honey Songs, his latest album of solid country songs, equal parts regressive and progressive.
The songs stand with Lauderdale’s finest - particularly notable are the rollicking “Stingray,” the gorgeous break-up ballad “It’s Finally Sinking In,” “I’m Almost Back” with Emmylou Harris and the intervention song, “Hittin’ It Hard.”
Then there is Lauderdale’s exquisite band, The Dream Players - players who worked as Elvis Presley’s band, backed the late Gram Parsons, and were the nucleus of Emmylou Harris’ Hot Band. The songs are great, the singing is pure and the backing is perfect, making Honey Songs the rare country album that will please just about anybody.
Maceo Parker
Roots & Grooves
Label: Heads Up
If you like: Funk, Ray Charles
Song to download: “You Don’t Know Me”
3.5 stars
Saxophonist Maceo Parker was key to the late James Brown during his heyday and a mainstay of George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic universe. In short, Parker (a native of Greensboro) is the essence of fine ‘n’ funky.
Parker’s new two-disc Roots & Grooves takes funk into relatively uncharted territory. Parker and his rhythm section - drummer Dennis Chambers and bassist Skeet Curtis, each of P-Funk fame - join Germany’s outrageous WDR Big Band (15 horns strong) for a live, two-hour funky good time.
The first disc is a tribute to Ray Charles, with Parker in gratifyingly true and moving vocal form. The playing is jazzy and oh-so-soulful and the results stand as the best tribute to Charles yet released. The second disc is filled with tunes familiar to Parker fans (“Pass The Peas,” “Shake Everything You Got”), but re-arranged for a powerhouse big-band funk experience. The highlight - a mighty sax duel between Parker and Karolina Strassmayer.
Jim Jones
Harlem’s American Gangster
Label: Koch Records
If you like: The Dipset
Song to download: “Come On, Come On”
2 stars
Everyone, it seems, wants to be a gangster these days, and rapper Jim Jones is no different on Harlem’s American Gangster, his mixtape ode to hustlers.
Jones wasn’t inspired by Ridley Scott’s film, American Gangster, but by the grittiness of street life and hustlers. He invites the listener to the corners where drug deals are made and bullets are sprayed. The goal is to accumulate cash, buy nice things and hang out with beautiful women.
When Jones briefly halts the party, it’s only to remember those cohorts who died too early.
Still, this is entertainment, and Jones is charismatic, as a lazy flow over thick beats mixes with R&B crooning. He even gets semi-serious - once: “Rockefeller Laws” is a stinging indictment of New York’s law of mandatory sentences for people caught with small amounts of drugs.
It’s a rare glimpse of depth for Jones, who is more interested in treading the familiar cash-addicted paths of most gangster rappers. The ride is trashy fun, but hardly memorable.
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