Record Reviews

NORTH MISSISSIPPI ALL STARS of the World," Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain," and Fred McDowell's "You Shake Hands with Shorty Gotta Move." Or "Drinkin' Muddy Tone-Cool 1177-2 (CD). 2000. Luther 8 Cody Dickin- Water," which somehow rescues the son, prods, mix; Kevin Houston, eng. ADD. Tr: 54:16 Performance ***** Yardbirds' vintage tribute to "Rollin' and Sonics *** "Tumblin'," strips it down to the barest The Reprise Studio Recordings umbling into the category of of electric blues essentials — slide, no- frills drumkit, minimalist 12-bar bass — Duke Ellington, piano; Billy Strayhom, piano, man- Uproarious Collision are the dolin piano; , , Cat North Mississippi All Stars, who and emerges with something that most Anderson, Roy Burrowes, , , T , Nat Woodard, , simultaneously channel the crusty rural likely resembles what Muddy Waters Howard McGhee, Richard Williams, trumpet; Ray blues of R.L. Burnside, the shake-a-tail- himself had in mind when he wrote it. Nance, trumpet, cornet, violin; Lawrence Brown, feather electric boogie of the Jon Or "All Night Long," which takes as its , trombone; Chuck Connors, trom- bone, bass trombone; , alto sax; Spencer Blues Explosion, and the psy- jumping-off point the late Junior , clarinet, alto sax; Jimmy chedelicized Southern Rock of Gov't 1Cimbrough's original tantric-sex-hypno- Hamilton, clarinet, tenor sax; , Eddie Johnson, tenor sax; , clarinet, Mule. This is not all that improbable grind arrangement —but by the time its bass clarinet, baritone sax; Stephane Grappelli, vio- once you consider the pedigree: gui- nine minutes have run, the trio has lin; Svend Asmussen, viola; Ernie Shepard, Major steered decisively into the Allman Holley, Peck Morrison, John Lamb, bass; Sam tarist Luther Dickinson and his traps Woodyard, drums; Paris Symphony Orchestra brother, Cody, are the sons of veteran Brothers' "Mountain Jam" territory, (Gerard Calvi, dir.), Stockholm Symphony Memphis producer-sideman Jim Dick- pausing along the way to meditate on Orchestra, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, La Scala Symphony Orchestra inson, legendary for never hewing to the Grateful Dead's version of "Turn Mosaic MD5-193 (5 CDs). 1999. Duke Ellington, one particular genre. Along with bassist On Your Love Light." prod.; Michael Cuscuna, reissue prod.; Malcolm Addey, mastering eng. AAD. TT: 5:53:58 Chris Chew, the All Stars may be an Uncommonly blessed with an intu- Performance ****1/2 unruly hybrid, but one that sounds — itively chugging rhythm section, Luther Sonics ***1/2 and, more important, feels — as authentic Dickinson's convincing hellhound wail Available exclusively from Mosaic Records, 35 Melrose Place, Stamford, CT 06902. Tel: (203) as any roots-oriented project currently of avoice, and his virtuosic guitar work 327-7111. treading the boards. The sonies are in- (acoustic included — check the breath- your-face and, yes, lo-fi in spots, with takingly dexterous fills he rips into dur- oxed sets from Mosaic always tell deliberately overdriven vocals, and ing the electro-boogie frenzy of "Shake stories. The Reprise Studio Record- maybe even afew of the blown notes that 'Em Down"), the North Mississippi All Bings tells the story of atwo-and-a- come from live-in-the-studio recording. Stars pack a musical wallop that's as half-year period in the career of Duke Hybrid? Try on "Station Blues," solid as it is freewheeling. Purists occa- Ellington. Between November 1962 and which manages to marry samples of a sionally decry the contemporary muta- April 1965, Ellington was under contract fife-and-drum corps and one of the tion/appropriation of the blues at the to Frank Sinatra's Reprise label, and most shivery slide-guitar lines this side hands of upstarts; but as aliving, breath- recorded enough studio material to fill of the young Johnny Winter to an amal- ing, growing artform, it's in safe hands nine LPs. All of that music is preserved gam of Howlin' Wolfs "Sitting On Top with this young trio. -Fred Mills in this Mosaic collection.

Although they're not as cherished as his RCA or Columbia recordings, Duke Ellington threw himself into his sessions for Reprise with the same drive and perfection he showed throughout his long career.

159 Stereophile, May 2000