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Rockin' Jake Band: Let's Go Get 'Em |
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New Orleans
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Tuesday, 24 January 2006 01:49 |
Let's Go Get 'Em
The Rockin' Jake Band
Rabadash Records
By John Sinclair
Larry "Rockin' Jake" Jacobs is a fresh-faced harmonica whiz from the East Coast who's carved out a home for himself in the modern-day music world of New Orleans with his Rockin' Jake Band, now showcased on disc with a diverse program of original material and a sparkling array of guest stars to boot.
The Rockin' Jake Band, anchored by bassist Angelo "Funky Knuckles" Nocentelli and the energetic Earl J. Smith Jr. on drums, has secured a measure of popularity on the Crescent City nightlife scene with its hard-hitting attack featuring the funky guitar stylings of Chip Wilson and the wailing harp of Rockin' Jake, voted New Orleans' No. 1 blues harmonica player in the 1996 OffBeat magazine poll.
Let's Go Get 'Em isn't just another blues record. This album is something different: an excursion into musical eclecticism that turns the spotlight on the creative contributions of each of the members of the band as they stretch out in unexpected directions.
Within the context of their working band, Rockin' Jake, Angelo Nocentelli and Chip Wilson have forged a writing partnership well represented in this set by "Paradise Ride," "Bayou Sunset," "Secret Name," "Them So Bad" (with T.J. Wheeler, an old partner of Jake's from the New England blues scene, on dobro behind the lead vocal of Chip Wilson), and "Me & My Brothers," which features a rap vocal by word craftsman "The Creeper," a.k.a. Jessie Baumler Hebert.
Producer John Autin contributes to their "Attracted to the Light" (a heart-felt duet sung by Maria Muldaur and Cornell Williams), and Autin's own "New Lover" is presented as a vehicle for the soulful singing voice of drummer Earl J. Smith Jr.
Jake's hot harp is also at the wheel for "Paradise Ride," backed by the rollicking piano of the legendary Eddie Bo, and Jake's at the front of the pirogue to lead the band through a picturesque "Bayou Sunset," with a lovely vocal line by Theresa Anderson that floats like a warm Louisiana breeze.
Jake teams up with guitarist Anders Osborne on an unrehearsed, spontaneous duet improvisation titled "Bigger Than God Himself" that flowed out from the two players as soon as they sat down and let the tape start rolling. The little songlets scattered throughout the CD program also stem from this elongated jam.
The band throws out a shoot to the roots with a pair of tunes associated with Angelo's brother, Leo Nocentelli, guitarist for the original Meters. Lee Dorsey's "Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky (From Now On)" brings out the great Tommy Ridgley to sing the lead; and "Sophisticated Cissy," a tribute to the Meters' own first release, has Meterman George Porter, Jr. producing and playing bass. Rockin' Jake simulates the organ sound of the Meters' Art Neville by blowing his chromatic harmonica through a set of Leslie speakers.
The jubilant party song here is the riotous salute to Mardi Gras on Bourbon Street called "Show Me Your Pretties," by Rockin' Jake & the Carnival Kings. This Rockin' Jake-T.J. Wheeler ditty was fleshed out by Angelo Nocentelli and delivered by vocalist Oliver "Who Shot The La-La" Morgan, an exhilarating performer who bills himself as "New Orleans' Greatest Entertainer" and certainly lives up to his billing here.
It should be mentioned that the guest stars on this album are not a bunch of randomly selected "name" artists whose numbers the producer happened to have in his Rolodex, but long-time friends and musical associates of Rockin' Jake and the fellas. The Rockin' Jake Band backed Tommy Ridgley at the 1995 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and has toured Scandanavia with Oliver Morgan. Jake has also worked as featured soloist with Maria Muldaur on several recent tours and appears on Maria's 1993 Black Top recording, Louisiana Love Call.
Since its formation at Mardi Gras 1995, the Rockin' Jake Band itself has backed up blues and R&B stars like Billy Boy Arnold, Eddie Bo, Guitar Slim Jr., and Tab Benoit. The band has opened for Dr. John, Jr. Walker & The All-Stars, Branford Marsalis & Buckshot LeFonque, the Dirty Dozen, the Neville Brothers, and B.B. King, and has toured New England and Scandanavia as well as throughout the South.
Rockin' Jake has come a long way since he picked up his first harmonica in 1975 and blasted out into New England in the '8O's with his notorious ensemble, Rockin' Jake and The Rollercoasters.
Since moving to New Orleans in 1990, Jake has performed and recorded with some of the city's most renowned R&B stars, including Tommy Ridgley, Tab Benoit, Marva Wright, Oliver Morgan, Luther Kent, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, and Big Daddy Reed, and he's a featured member of this writer's ensemble, John Sinclair & His Blues Scholars.
Now he's got a fine digital document of some of the other things on his mind, and it's high time for Rockin' Jake to be heard.
--New Orleans
March 23, 1996
(c) 1996, 2006 John Sinclair. All Rights Reserved.
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