Eclecto Groove
2007
Rocket Number 9
About This Album
With his pink hair, sullen, expressionless face, and black clothes, harp blower Jason Ricci looks more art damaged emo kid than bluesman, but looks can be deceiving. Ricci tours relentlessly and has brought plenty of new fans to the genre with an approach that combines spacy, jam band meandering, the almost metallic guitar attack of Shawn Starski, and wide open arrangements that touch on jazz, rock, funk, Arab, punk, and, of course, blues. The album combines heavy, bluesy tunes and unexpectedly mellow soul outings. The title track, a Sun Ra tune, shows off the resourcefulness of Ricci and his bandmates -- Starski on guitar, Todd Edmunds on acoustic and electric bass, keys, and percussion, and Ron Sutton on drums. The arrangement opens with a sinister harp interlude, and switches throughout from a straightforward blues-rock vamp to brief solo breaks featuring quiet, jazzy guitar breaks full of swinging comped chords, measured single-note runs and odd effects, hushed bass ruminations, nose flute work from Ricci in the style of Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and harp that often sounds as much like a horn section as a harmonica. Guest Michael Peloquin brings a bit of sax in to add an extra flavor. It clocks in at over ten minutes but never loses focus.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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