Chris Murphy - Water Under the Bridge (2017)

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Written by Jay Snyder, posted by blog admin

Like music you would expect to hear in a grand Civil War-era ballroom, Chris Murphy and his cohorts (The Blind Blakes Blues Band) fire on all cylinders with their latest eclectic instrumental album Water under the Bridge.  Molding a strong, soulful sound the record mixes and matches jazz, ragtime, blues, swing and country as so gloriously exhibited by opener “Moveable Feast.”  Saloon-styled piano that will make you want to soak back a sarsaparilla or three tangos hand-in-hand with vintage jazz rhythms, Murphy’s runaway train fiddle playing and some atmospheric guitar work.  This music is as catchy as it is progressive; welding together influences spanning a timeframe from 1930 to 2017. 

“Joan Crawford Dances the Charleston” furthers Chris’ out-there approach to his chosen stylistic attack in much of the same way that Frank Zappa threw caution to the wind in whatever sonic enterprise he decided to monopolize.  Murphy and his band’s take on the blues grooves with punchy upright bass work, ragtime piano, economical runs of downplayed electric guitar and numerous subtle tempo changes and aural fluctuations.  Neoclassical acoustic guitar lassos a flamenco element that positively dazzles the eardrums and only tangles the listener’s eardrums deeper in the artist’s audio webs.  The faster paced “Table for Two” incorporates bluegrass into the band’s repertoire with especial attention paid to high octane rhythms, fiddle on overdrive and spitfire, Nashville bound two/three-part vocal harmonies.  “Riverboat Blues” shifts into a slower waltz tempo that’s meant for swinging cheek-to-cheek sweetly with the one you love before “I Swear I’m Going to Learn This Time” settles on a danceable mid-tempo brimming with blue-eyed soul vocals with excellent harmonies, playful ivory tinkling, wayward fiddling and a rhythm section that’s completely locked into the arrangement.  A series of melodic stop/start instrumental licks and two-part harmonies enter at the 1:21 mark and craft an infectious sing-a-long you won’t be able to get out of your head with bleach and a wire brush.  An excellent segment of intricately picked, Hawaiian flavored guitar licks take the spotlight in one particularly potent segment which is immediately preceded by a fiddle lead and firmly bookended by some spotlight for the piano.  Even the bass guitar gets a shot to step up and command center stage.  Without a doubt this is one of the album’s finest tracks and my personal pick for a tester tune to see what Murphy and the boys are cooking up in their soul kitchen. 

Elsewhere “My Spanish Lover” a simultaneously laidback and engaging jazz number that’s afraid to strut both country and blues inflections over its 4 minute and 37 second course, “The Lemon Rag” is set aflame by a cavalry charge of busy fiddling heavy on the bluegrass touches while keeping the piano style firmly rooted in 1880s Americana, “Benzedrine Shuffle” buckles down on the blues in a well-layered storm of upright bass thunder mingling with every kind of stringed instrument imaginable, “Tomcat Blues” filters a blown out garage sound through the band’s usual and closer “Cheer uUp Mickey” relishes the minimalism of a kick drum and a rustic fiddle banging out complex melodies that are an absolute treasure to behold. 

Water under the Bridge is without a weak tune across its 14 track arc.  You get a little bit of everything on this record; from dazzling instrumentals to killer meat n’ taters singer/songwriter fare that sports a heightened level of instrumentation…it’s all here and sounds great.  This is a highly recommended release.        

Joe Olnick Band - Downtown (2017)

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Written by David Shouse, posted by blog admin

The funk genre lies relatively dormant these days with new artists and acts tough to come by.  I’ve heard a few but other than Alabama prog-funk rockers CBDB, there really hasn’t been that much stuff catching my ears anymore.  I’m a big fan of the genre and it sure is frustrating to have such difficulty discovering new groups.  Well along comes the Joe Olnick band to turn that problem on its head and me on my ear.  Downtown is this airtight unit’s SIXTH record overall…where the heck have I been?

Downtown wastes no time in getting to the point as the title track throws down some heavy, hook-y instrumental funk that’s got no b.s. and showcases a trio of kick butt musicians doing what they do best.  Bassist Jamie Aston catches a boogie woogie, wackachicka 70s lick and engages in perfect rhythmic harmony with his skin-slapping cohort Jamie Smucker who oozes class and quality with every jazzy cymbal splash and a barrage of swift-handed attacks on the snare.  Guitarist/composer Joe Olnick rockets his way across the fretboard; bluesy, FX-pedal goose guitar leads rock and roll their way into extensive, expressive solos and tasty licks.  This is just full powered soul funk that teeters and eventually levels its balance into a supreme mixture of jazz, funk, rock, blues and total catchy goodness.  Sharing a similar mindset, several tunes offer up a congruent yet noticeably different variation on a funk them; “Philadelphia Moonlight (Part One)” utilizes multi-tracked guitars for a clean/distorted double trouble blitz that’s totally settled into a mid-paced glory, “Food Truck” rocks harder and deliberately while allowing the bass to provide its own lead instrumentation and Olnick serving up five-fingered fretwork that nails some exotic high-flyer solos and “Rush Hour” is the kind of old school 70s funk n’ jazz that’s so damn good it could even appeal to fans of the almighty George Clinton and P-Funk. 

Elsewhere the album calls the dealer’s buff and takes free-wheeling chances and gambles with the stylistic side of the coin for the construction of some tunes that are totally different than anything else on the record altogether.  “Parkside” eventually delivers the rockin’ funky grooves but employs a lengthy, meditative first half that’s weird and angular in the way that late 80s/early 90s New York City noise-rock is and its companion piece “Philadelphia Moonlight (Part Two)” is a creepy odd man out cut that features guitar noise, a singular cymbal burst, an individual bass notation and creeping keyboards…it’s a total no-wave approach and there’s really no describing it.  Even crazier, closer “Sports Complex” is a fierce, voracious blend of hard rock and scraping noise-punk that still manages to push the fact that this is a funk/jazz band through and through… a really weird one but a funk/jazz band nonetheless. 

Downtown is a great record.  It’s great because Joe and the boys manage to merge tradition with trailblazing thanks to a refreshingly original approach to the genre that’s never afraid to step outside of its confines.  I could see anyone from fans of Coltrane to Clinton getting a rise out of this instrumental nuthouse.  Joe Olnick’s discography is well-worth checking out if you find yourself caught up with this album; recommended.