Search - Dr John :: N'Awlinz: Dis Dat Or D'Udda

My New Fave Mac Recording

Bruce Kendall | Southern Pines, NC | 05/07/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've enjoyed this guy for ages. He epitomizes NOLA music. He did learn at the knee of one of the giants of NOLA musicians, after all (the immortal Professor Longhair). This CD is the Doc's greatest expression of his N'Awlins (OK purists, quibble with my spelling and usage) thus far, and that is saying something.



He has gathered an unbelievable supporting cast for this CD. Mavis Staples' contribution on The Saints Come Marching In, for instance, lends that old saw an entirely new dimension of expression and soulfulness. Slow Drag New Orleans Jazz at it's rootsiest and one of the best modern examples I've heard in recent memory. The Dr has always been great at homework. The heritage is tatooed into his consciousness.



"Marie Laveau" is a pure Night Tripper gumbo and gris-gris homage to his former persona, with a contemporary, sardonic, tongue in cheek veneer.



Chikee Le Pas, Mardi Gras is pure purple, gold and green, and will take any former NOLA denizen straight back to St Charles Ave on Fat Tuesday in a heartbeat. How could it not, as it features Cyril Neville and The Mardi Gras Indians on backup vocals?



Fellow New Orleanean Randy Newman (another Crescent City genius) lends his considerable style and talent to another great track: I Ate up the Apple tree...usual satirical, farcical genius at work.



It's also fitting that Willie Nelson appears on a couple tracks, most notably on "Such a Much." Louisiana and neighboring Louisiana have long had an exchange of music and musicians... I can't recall the number of times I heard the late Stevie Ray Vaughan at Tipitinas...He was practically the Texas House band...Willie does a great job in preserving the "hands across the border" tradition.



Nice to hear the late Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown contributing, as well. He and the also posthumous James Booker were huge influences on Mac, as well.



Then you get a nice dose of BB King on "Hen-Layin Rooster" in the double entendre tradition of Bessie Smith, et al....who could resist? This is the in-crowd folks, makin' music like only true roots artists can. The assembled cast could knock off more soul-inspired melodies in their sleep than the current crowd of wannabes could struggle for in a lifetime of trying.



On my premiere list of recordings for the new decade.



For fans of NOLA or Dr John...please also give a listen and maybe buy the CD, Seppiana Hericane. All procedes go to victims of Katrina. He pours his heart out to his hometown on that one. He pours his soul out in this one. This has it over the more recent CD, musically, but the city, unique in the world, needs your bucks on the other.



BEK



"

Good stuff

R. B. Wise | WV, formerly NOLA | 04/26/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A good, solid album of the Doctor's music. I never thought St. James Infirmary could make me want to dance, but this one with Mavis Staples does."

Super Find

D. Allen | McKinney Texas | 02/19/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm new to Dr. John, so I didn't know what to expect when I ordered this. I've listened to it several times now, and while I enjoyed the first listen, it keeps getting better. It's like a rich musical gumbo (sorry about that) with lots of texture. Yeah - that's the ticket - texture. It's not a particularly joyous album, but a rather somber and earthy one, with a quality of writing and musicianship that is rare these days. I plan to buy many more of his discs.



You would hope that music of this calibre was properly recorded and mastered, and fortunately N'Awlinz was. This disc has audiophile quality sound that would be difficult to improve upon. The soundstage is deep and wide, the tonal balance is perfect, and it wasn't mastered too loud, allowing full dynamics. They did push the volume to the point just before compression occurs, and I wish they'd given it a little headroom, but it works. Due to the fullness of the sound and lack of grain, I suspect it was mastered using DSD."