Search - Getting' Funky: Birth of Ne :: Gettin' Funky: The Birth of New Orleans R&B

Many gems and discoveries, but often more archival

Frank Camm | Northern Virginia | 03/22/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Vol 1. 5 stars. Champion Jack Dupree, Professor Longhair, Archibald. Nice sampler of New Orleans (NO) piano styles that make it easy to understand where Fats Domino came from. Mainly piano, male vocal with drums distinctly in the back. Many include a sax or guitar as well. Styles draw heavily on boogie-woogie at the core and add distinctive syncopation and lilt that instantly signal NO. Mambos offer an extreme version of squinky NO rhythms. Several reach into cha-cha and ska territory. At the other end, blues and R&B provide the foundation. Professor Longhair's style is crisp, clean, creative, quintessential to NO. Archibald is simpler, more traditionally down-home R&B. Archibald has a fuller ensemble than Longhair or Dupree. [78:56]



Vol 2. Dave Bartholomew, Paul Gayten, Smiley Lewis. Fascinating mix of blues, traditional pop, Latin, swing, and boogie, with R&B all around the edges and interstices. The hidden link from swing to rock and roll clearly ran through this territory, but no jump blues here. Bartholomew evokes NO only through his use of small jazz combos that bring traditional jazz to mind as they play proto-R&B. He is the closest to traditional swing of the three. Gayten is the find here, the most ambitious, with the widest range of styles. He touches Ellington, second-line, traditional pop, and blues. He finds the combination of raw roots and traditional pop that opened the way to '50s R&B, doo wop, and ultimately soul. Lewis feels the closest to NO, perhaps because he uses the piano the most, because his vocalist is most like Fats Domino, or he captures the sui generis lilt more often than the others. That said, he is the bluesiest and rootsiest of the three. Stand-out: tr 13-Gayten: My rough and ready man (sexy torcher struts then scats through a swing blues) [70:44]



Vol. 3. Roy Brown, Fats Domino, Larry Darnell. Roy Brown is an integral part of the hidden link between swing and rock. He has an exceptionally mellow, velvety voice, but can shout 12-bar boogies and blues with the best of them. Fats Domino, as presented here, is mainly still finding his way to his signature style. His piano is getting there faster than he is, but hints pop up everywhere. Lilt I associate with NO is still in-progress here. Larry Darnell somehow embodies all the elements of the transition from swing to rock and roll with a strong voice and a tight, sophisticated, but low-key band. Standouts: tr 10-Brown: Please don't go (slow-tempered 12-bar blues with pleading piano, swaying charted horns, rough swing throughout). tr 21-Domino: Hey La Bas boogie (fast-rolling boogie; hot sax solo swings hard as Fats struts vocally in French). tr 24-Domino: Careless love (moderate pace, NO lilt, light and heavenly piano, standard song structure, and finally Fats's characteristic vocal style-he has arrived!) tr 27-Darnell: I'll get along somehow (effortlessly leaps from '30s swing singer to roots of R&B and doo-wop). [77:19]



Vol. 4. Chubby Newsome, Alma Monday, George Miller, Little Joe Gaines, Hose Owne Craven, James Locks, Erline Harris, Johnson Brothers Combo, Tommy Ridgely, Jewel King, Joe August. Music where swing, jazz, blues, boogie, and rock and roll slosh together without making firm distinctions. They mix and match in different ways on different tracks. A 12-bar blues structure dominates. Chord changes slip easily from boogie to rock and roll. Bands are still generally as tight as those in swing and jazz and lyrics are typically more adult than rock and roll. Generally tasty; generally without great distinction. Jewel King is the big find. She is fully in command of a tight band that can groove on its own and back up when she sings out. Joe August is at the other end-what is this novelty slinger doing here? Stand-outs: tr 18-Johnson Brothers Combo: Mellow woman blues (very cool rolling blues swing with precision indigo-jazzy horn charts, stride po). tr 22-Jewel King: I'll get by (light, quick, tight, sassy boogie-woogie)."