A guitar/organ quartet on Blue Note! This was going to be something else. I ordered a takeaway wings 'n' fries with eggs over easy on the side from the local Chicken Shack.
Nine tracks later, the food was cold and untouched. This certainly had been something else and not what I'd expected. In many ways it was, to quote the last of the nine, Something More. It was different, unlike the Smiths, McGriffs and McDuffs whose approach is formulaic, Lage, Medeski, Roeder and Wollesen have their own individualistic approach that will appeal to those who can see beyond twelve bars.
Opal: Fragmentary, pastel shaded exploration.
Red Elm: Gentle and relatively straight ahead.
Talking Drums: Closer to the old Blue Note tradition,
Havana: As the title implies, a hypnotic Latin/Caribbean groove that underpins Lage's lead.
Night Shade: A dreamy somnambulismic stroll. Pastoral, reflective gradually building to an almighty climactic conclusion before quietly fading away.
Solid Air: Atmospheric waves of sound, capturing those scenes from above.
Ocala: A city in Florida (pop. 70,251) the Latin rhythm depicting a vibrant multi-cultured city emphasised by killer solos from Lage and Medeski.
Storyville: A cinematic sci-fi explosion. Medeski's on piano and all four pursue different lines that sometimes cross, sometimes don't, sometimes come together and sometimes miss but always create an overall scenario that becomes compulsive listening.
Something More: It certainly was.
Back in July Lage, Roeder and Joey Baron played a sold-out gig in North Shields. I wasn't there - now I wish I had been! Lance
Release date: Jan. 23
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