Album:
Mindi Abair & The Boneshakers - Live In Seattle
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:45
Size: 168.8 MB
Styles: R&B/Soul/Blues
Year: 2015
Art: Front
[1:08] 1. Here She Comes
[4:37] 2. Wild Heart
[7:51] 3. Haute Sauce
[4:12] 4. I Can’t Lose
[1:20] 5. Bring Him On
[4:35] 6. Ball And Chain
[7:06] 7. Be Beautiful
[3:33] 8. Gone
[6:14] 9. Make It Happen
[5:01] 10. Bloom
[5:13] 11. I’ll Be Your Home
[7:35] 12. Summertime
[7:02] 13. Flirt
[8:14] 14. Cold Sweat
Mindi Abair's 2014 Grammy-nominated studio album Wild Heart was star-studded and chock-full of imaginative charts, but they were so fixed, precious little room remained for players to stretch out. Abair remedies that on Live in Seattle, backed by the Boneshakers -- guitarist Randy Jacobs and vocalist Sweet Pea Atkinson -- and members of her own band. She is a celebrated contemporary jazz artist, but she's done many other things as well. On Live in Seattle, she channels her rock, funk, and blueswoman personas with her jazz chops at the fore. With Jacobs and Atkinson bringing blues-rock and hard soul edges from Detroit, what else could she do? "Wild Heart" commences with Jacobs' roiling, back-to-the-roots guitar vamping at the fore. Abair answers by matching the intensity with a funk vamp as the rhythm section lays down an elastic pocket. "I Can't Lose" reveals that her thin, grainy voice does have power (something lacking on Wild Heart); it climbs out on the ledge to express emotion on top of the band's swampy magic. Instrumentally, her alto solo careens into Jacobs' Hendrix-ian wah-wah guitar and the wallop of the rhythm section. She's a terrific accompanist, too, as evidenced by Jacobs' swaggering, Stevie Ray Vaughan-esque electric blues in "Ball and Chain," as Atkinson lends soulful depth in the backing vocal. "Make It Happen," a breakbeat-drenched souled-out funk stepper, is a previously unreleased jam Abair wrote with Booker T. Jones. Her raw, squawking alto and Jacobs' fat, rhythmic comping are a killer combination. For contemporary jazz fans, there's an uptempo version of the lyrical "Bloom" (from 2006's Life Less Ordinary). Her soloing here offers reveals the depth of her experience, both musical and emotional. Likewise, her vocal duet with Atkinson on the lovely "I'll Be Your Home" weds both Motown and Stax traditions seamlessly. An over the top, rockist instrumental version of George Gershwin's "Summertime" follows; it's rangy and wild. The exchanges between Abair's wailing, Jacobs' massive riffing, Third Richardson's breakbeat drums, Derek Frank's whomping basslines, and Rodney Lee's fluid, spiky keyboards offer abundant lyricism and kinetic force. Abair is no stranger to James Brown's tunes -- she brings Atkinson out to close with "Cold Sweat." The band's attack is more blues than funk, but Atkinson's alternately silky and grainy soul delivery turns this nugget inside-out. Live in Seattle was a gutsy move following the commercial success of Wild Heart, but it was the right one. On earlier records and in her session work, Abair's musical wild side could only be heard in brief flashes. But with the perfect balance of players, and freed from the constraints of a studio, she is at her unfettered best. ~Thom Jurek
Live In Seattle
Album:
Wild Heart
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:12
Size: 112.6 MB
Styles: Soul/Jazz/Blues
Year: 2014
Art: Front
[4:20] 1. Amazing Game
[3:35] 2. I Can't Lose
[4:06] 3. Wild Heart
[3:17] 4. Haute Sauce
[3:27] 5. Train
[5:34] 6. Kick Ass
[4:17] 7. I'll Be Your Home
[3:48] 8. The Shakedown
[4:27] 9. Kiddo's Revenge
[6:45] 10. Addicted To You
[5:30] 11. Just Say When
Though saxophonist/vocalist Mindi Abair's last album was 2010's In Hi-Fi Stereo, she's been exceptionally busy as a touring and session musician. Wild Heart picks up where that record left off, albeit in a much rowdier, grimier fashion. It is a self-penned collection of (mostly) ramped-up, funky soul, R&B, and rock tunes, with hints of contemporary jazz thrown in. Its sound is crunchy, fat, and greasy. Electric guitars and bass are mixed right up front with her alto, tenor, and baritone saxes. Abair also enlisted a slew of all-star guests from across the pop spectrum. The slamming, funky, brass- and reed-drenched "Amazing Game" is a tribute to NOLA R&B and jazz and actively engages its other soloist, Trombone Shorty. The chart is tight and meaty and the horn breaks and dueling solos soar. The title track is a grainy modern take on soul-jazz with wah-wah guitars, B-3, and her alto, tenor, and baritone horns framed by Todd Simon's trumpet and Elizabeth Lea's trombone. The single "Haute Sauce" features grimy, old-school (as in Junior Walker) R&B and contains both a stellar alto break and a killer piano solo from Dave Yaden. Aerosmith's Joe Perry lends very basic (a good thing) yet roaring guitar chops to "Kick Ass." It's all riffing and screaming alto dueling with frenetic, in-the-red drumming by Jake Najor. "The Shakedown," with Max Weinberg and Waddy Wachtel, recalls mid-'60s rave-up discotheques and TV themes from teen dance shows. "Addicted to You" is a bluesy, slow-grooving quartet affair with Booker T. Jones on B-3. A couple of tunes don't work; predictably, they are vocal numbers such as "I Can't Lose" and "Train," where Abair's thin voice -- even multitracked -- is no match for the massive sonic attack she assembles. That said, the one place it does succeed is on the closer, "Just Say When," a vocal duet with Gregg Allman. Sans horns, the skeletal tune is framed by a basic rock band playing an effortless meld of Southern Americana and soul. Allman is in excellent voice and Abair's emotive, reedy contralto is the perfect counterpart. It's a hell of a way to end a record. As a whole, Wild Heart builds considerably on the strengths of In Hi-Fi Stereo, and is a much stronger effort overall. Though it pays unapologetic tribute to retro inspirations, it does so with 21st century sophistication, a gritty, raucous spirit, and exceptional creative imagination. ~Thom Jurek
Wild Heart