War Stories

構成数 : 1枚
合計収録時間 : 01:06:27
Personnel: Lonnie Jordan (vocals, guitar, coral sitar, melodica, piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Wurlitzer organ, background vocals); Lonnie Jordan; Francisco "Pancho" Tomaselli (vocals, acoustic guitar, unknown instrument, background vocals); Davey Chegwidden (berimbau, congas, bongos, agogo, claves, cowbells, shaker, shekere, tambourine); Pablo Cologero (saxophone); Sebastian Arocha Morton (Mellotron, bass synthesizer, mini-Moog synthesizer, Moog synthesizer); Sebasian Arocha Morton (bass synthesizer); Paul Alexander Gomez, Paul Gonzalez (drums); Dan Tai, Dan Tai Lopez (congas); JB Eckl (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, coral sitar, bass synthesizer, background vocals); Tara Ellis (vocals, background vocals); Pablo Calogero (flute, bass flute, saxophone, soprano saxophone, baritone saxophone, horns); Mitch Kashmar (harmonica); Fernando Harkless (tenor saxophone); Oliver Charles, Pete McNeal, Sal Rodriguez (drums); Ricky Rodriguez (cymbals, timbales). Audio Mixers: Don Murray ; Jonathan Rezin. Recording information: Eldorado Studios, Burbank, CA; G Studio Digital, Studio City, CA. Authors: Francisco "Pancho" Tomaselli; JB Eckl. Illustrator: Isaac Ben Ayala. Photographer: Devin DeHaven. If Lonnie Jordan's 2007 long-player War Stories is to believed -- that and a couple of thousand other 12" singles and albums by other artists around the globe -- the era of nu soul has given way to soul, and acid jazz has given way to genuine jazz-funk once more. It's not so much that he makes a claim for these things, it's that the evidence is in the grooves themselves. Jordan is, of course, a founding member of Bay area legends War. His singing and keyboard playing helped to define that group's brave (and very successful) attempts at combining jazz, funk, soul, Latin groove and polyrhythmic pop. War Stories is Jordan's third album as a leader, and his first since 1982. It is also easily the best of his own recordings. Of course there are elements of War's sound here and the synthesis that was their trademark is, as expected, all over this 14-song set. Vocally, Jordan is as strong as ever. He has his full range, from falsetto to gritty shout. His writing skills are sharp, and he's not given to the excesses he once was as a solo artist, though he's more adventurous now. There are a number of covers on this set as a well, most notable among them is a slow-burning mambo reading of the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" with Jordan's funky Cuban piano leading the charge, and a gorgeous jazz version of Jimi Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun," complete with acoustic piano and Rhodes, berimbau, and a funky bassline -- yeah, yeah, there are guitar parts too. And before you roll your eyes, these are not gimmicky side tracks; they are visionary re-interpretations that only a master musician could pull off. It might as well be stated that there are a couple of War tunes here as well, including "The World Is a Ghetto," and "Deliver the Word." The former doesn't touch the original (but then, how could it?) the latter reinvents and improves upon the root tune. As fine as these are, however, they are simply parts of a much larger story. The album title reveals what's in store for the listener. Jordan simply recounts through the music his experiences as a musician from running in the Oakland ghetto in the late '50s and '60s to jamming with Hendrix on the night before he passed away, and partying and playing with Bob Marley ("Rock and Roll Days.") Like the best tunes in the genre of socially conscious roots music, Jordan allows the personal into his tunes, as on the soulful opener "Don't Let No One Get You Down" and in the tragic balladry of "Baby Brother," which recounts the shooting of his sibling by police; there's the rent-party funk of "Get That Feeling" and the Fela-centric, James Brown-grit, pop and groove in another War tune, "Get Down," that's much faster than the original version. Love songs, such as "Out of Sight," with its ether