CD Review: “That’s It” by The Preservation Hall Jazz Band

By George Kovacik

My wife and I get 48 hours a year to be together all by ourselves and we usually spend that time around our anniversary in the great city of New Orleans. Our nightly trek usually starts at the legendary Pat O’Brien’s. We enter off of Bourbon St., walk through the crowd, get a blast of hot air from the big fire pit in the middle, and then make our way to the back and order a hurricane (a drink so powerful you only need one). We then stand around for a few minutes and people watch,  and when we are ready to leave, we walk out the back past the long line of people waiting to get into to see the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in the infamous Preservation Hall.

Preservation Hall was founded in 1961 by Allan and Sandra Jaffe as a way to preserve New Orleans Jazz. The building in the French Quarter was once a tavern in the War of 1812 and to this day has never received a “facelift.” Even though it has no air conditioning or any other modern day luxury, it’s packed every night by people eager to bop along to music played by some of the finest musicians in the Crescent City.

In the band’s illustrious 50-year history, it has never recorded an album of all original material…until now. That’s It, produced by Jim James of My Morning Jacket and director Ben Jaffe (son of the Hall’s founders) was recorded in the famed venue and is quite a delight.  Drummer Joe Lastie kicks the album into high gear on the album’s first track “That’s It,”  which also features stellar tuba work by Jaffe and a very creative trumpet solo by Mark Braud. “Dear Lord (Give Me Strength) is pure New Orleans dance music with a great gospel vocal. “Sugar Plum” almost sounds like it could have a rap over it like many of the songs on HBO’s Treme’ soundtrack.  “Rattlin’ Bones” has a Dr. John vibe, “I Think I Love You” and “Come With Me,” both sung by the legendary Charlie Gabriel, are as cool as the other side of the pillow, and the sultry “August Nights” is one of those ballads that would have been cool to here Frank Sinatra belt out with the band.

I will have to admit I am not a jazz connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination, but I really love the stuff that comes out of that little old building at 726 St. Peters. This new album, which comes out on Tuesday, is a fun, spirited collection of originals that will have you dancing and wanting to lift up your shirt for some beads. Okay, maybe that last part is just wishful thinking.

“That’s It” (NPR First Stream of entire album)

The Making of “That’s It”

The What If? Files – Fantasy Rock Team-ups

Gary Clark Jr.

I love those new apps for the smartphone, especially the ones that let you listen to terrestrial radio anywhere in the world. Lately I’ve been digging WDST-FM, Radio Woodstock, operating out of the New York town that shares its name with the festival.

WDST is one of those rare stations whose DJs will say something like “Boz Scaggs has a new album out …” and they will actually play a song from that new Boz Scaggs album. Amazing – you don’t usually hear that on those big-box corporate radio stations. It’s an awesome radio station.

Janis Joplin – a teamup with Gary Clark Jr.? Hmmm …

Anyway, the other day a Radio Woodstock DJ on the morning show – Ron VanWarmer, I believe – said something intriguing. He’d just spun a song from Texas guitar wonder Gary Clark Jr. and after giving the background info on the tune, added: “Wish we could pair him up with somebody like Janis Joplin … that would be so cool.”

He never explained what would make this particular fantasy pairing so great, aside that they’re both Texans and represent a certain authenticity in the music from different eras, but it was a provocative thought nevertheless.

So today we thought we’d carry Ron’s idea a bit further, and suggest a few more fantasy team-ups that would most certainly result in some great music. If only …

Levon Helm with Mumford & Sons – A father of modern folk music and one of America’s greatest singers (and drummers) fronting a foursome of English folk strummers and pickers would be a happy experience for fans on both sides of the Big Pond. Levon in his prime would anchor the Mumford boys with his Arkansas accent on vocals – and Helm’s steady backbeat on the drums would give Marcus Mumford’s right foot a serious break, not to mention a run for the money. If Levon had held on for just a few more years, this dream pairing may have actually taken place. Ah, Levon – we miss ya.

YouTube: “Ophelia” by Levon Helm

Stevie Ray Vaughan with Bruce Springsteen – This could have happened, but sadly never did. They both recorded for the same label, and both worked with the legendary producer John Hammond Sr. Such a New Jersey-Texas connection could have blown anyone else off the stage, and once Stevie Ray warmed up on guitar he probably would’ve left even the Boss in the dust.

Iggy Pop with the Sex Pistols – Another one that might have taken place had the stars been right. Hell, the Pistols even covered the Stooges’ “No Fun.” How much fun would it have been with Iggy on vocals for that one?

YouTube: “Search and Destroy” by Iggy and the Stooges

Jim Morrison with the Flaming Lips – Two different departments of the psychedelia branch, surely this matchup would make heads explode. Or implode – guess it depends on the drugs.

MP3: “When The Music’s Over’ (live) by The Doors

Pee Wee Herman with the Beatles – Think about it. Some of the Beatles’ best songs were so simple as to be nearly childlike, and how cool would it be to hear Mr. Herman warbling along to “Yellow Submarine” or “Octopus’ Garden” or “I Want To Hold Your Hand”? OK, maybe that last one would be really creepy.

Jim James with the Jefferson Airplane – Never thought about it till now, but possibly Mr. Yim Yames is this generation’s Marty Balin.

YouTube: “Know Til Now” by Jim James

Otis Redding with the Roots – A no brainer. These guys share the stage, and it could make heads explode AND blow the roof off the sucker. For that matter, wouldn’t you like to hear Janis Joplin wail a few with Questlove and company? Somewhere up in snowy New York state, Ron VanWarmer’s head is exploding.

MP3: “I Can’t Turn You Loose” (live) by Otis Redding

YouTube: “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” by Otis Redding

Video Du Jour: Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Another venerable music act is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and although they may not get the attention of the Rolling Stones or the Beach Boys, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band is a great and vital piece of American music history.

The band, based out of historic Preservation Hall in New Orleans, is releasing a new album,  St. Peter and 57th. The album consists of live recordings from a show in Carnegie Hall and features special guests including tUnE-yArDs, Trombone Shorty, Yasiin Bey, Jim James, Allen Toussaint, Steve Earle and many more.

This is pretty sublime stuff, and if you can’t enough the band is also releasing a 4-CD, 58-track collection celebrating 50 years of Preservation Hall. You can check out both items on the official web site, and go here to download a free song – the band performing the Crescent City classic “St. James Infirmary” with Jim James of My Morning Jacket and Trombone Shorty.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band official web site

YouTube: Preservation Hall Jazz Band with the Del McCoury Band on “Late Night With David Letterman” in 2011

Song of the Day: “Dear God”

Here’s a nice way to begin the weekend: the new video from alt-pop supergroup Monsters of Folk – M. Ward, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Conor “Bright Eyes” Oberst and producer Mike Mogus.  What is it?  Philly soul trippin’?  Psychedelic panty dropping music?  Judge for yourself, and have a great springtime weekend.

Monsters of Folk official website

Review: “Evil Urges,” My Morning Jacket

You can flip many coins on My Morning Jacket’s new album Evil Urges and still be accurate: ambitious/precious; satisfying/frustrating; illuminating/confusing.  It all depends on how adventurous you want your rock music to be.  But this Kentucky outfit is certainly not boring on this masterful effort.  Stretching their wings and delivering their most wide-ranging set to date, MMJ sinks deep into the Southern Gothic motifs of their past work and emerge with an original hybrid of psychedelic funk, for lack of a better description.  “Highly Suspicious,” sung by MMJ frontman Jim James in a helium falsetto, makes one wonder if these boys have  been woodshedding with old Prince albums.  After a few detours on the other side of the tracks, MMJ comes back into more familiar territory with rock stompers like “Aluminum Park” and “Remnants.”  Like their spiritual cousins the Raconteurs, MMJ are certainly adept at their instruments but maybe not so skilled at assimiliating their grab-bag of influences.  The quiet “Librarian” takes a 1960s-style acoustic tiptoe through the tulips, and it doesn’t work.  Again, if you like your rock on the adventurous and surprising side (see Wilco), then Evil Urges is for you.  I could flip the coin on giving this album a thumbs up or thumbs down, but I’ll give them points for effort and just say that Evil Urges has the potential to satisfy – or even exhilarate – if you happen to be in the mood.

MP3: “Evil Urges”

MP3: “Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Part 2”

My Morning Jacket official website