Search - Ronald Shannon Jackson, Decoding Society :: Live at Greenwich House

Great

02/12/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Last year KnitRecords reissued 10 Ronald Shannon Jackson albums, including two that were never released. Live at Greenwich House was recorded in early 1986 with Vernon Reid and Cary Denigris on guitars, Melvin Gibbs and Reggie Washington on basses, and Eric Person and Henry Scott on drums. The doubled-up lineup ends up being balanced well, with each player contributing some great, tight playing and no one player overwhelming the tunes. This disc has some of Ronald Shannon Jackson's finest drumming, in my opinion. Currently one of my favorite albums to listen to. KnitRecords would do well to reissue the rest of the Decoding Society's old albums, e.g. Mandance, Street Preist, Eye on You, etc."

Missing the energy it probably had live.

Michael Stack | North Chelmsford, MA USA | 09/22/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Every so often I hear a live album that I think totally loses something in the translation to disc. "Live in Greenwich House" is one such recording-- the show sounds great, and conceptually, how could it not be? A reunion of some of the early members of the Decoding Society (guitarist Vernon Reid, bassist Melvin Gibbs, and trumpeter Henry Scott) along with the current band (guitarist Cary DeNegris, bassist Reggie Washington, and saxaphonist Eric Person) with leader Ronald Shannon Jackson. Sounds like it should be fantastic.



You know, it is, in many ways, but it's got a lot of those moments that would translate better on stage-- take opener "Flatbush Roti". It cooks for a good twelve minutes, themes come in go in Ayleresque fashion, the playing is stunning (particularly the bass playing-- Washington is slap-n-pop funky and Gibbs is slithery), but it's so busy that it feels like in person, it would be overwhelming. On record, it just feels busy.



And really I make this assessment of the entire record-- there's lots to like here ("Erri Moments" in particular, but also Vernon Reid's bubbling guitar solo on "Chocolate Envy" deserves note), and the performance is great in the Ornette-meets-70s Miles vein without sounding derivative, but without the energy coming off stage, it just feels a bit blah to me.



Having said that, remarkably I suspect this is one of the better places to jump in and get a feel for the Decoding Society material if you're new to the group, the record feels like a lot of fun, even if I don't find it to be as gripping as I'd like."