Blues
This is surely one of the best big band/vocalist albums there has ever been. It sits well in the tradition of Basie, Schuur, Joe Williams etc. but Dr. John's voice sparkles the way nobody else's possibly could. I strongly recommend this album as not run-of-the-mill Dr. John stuff, but something a little different which shows him off brilliantly - for your ultimate benefit. Please buy this - you will enjoy it.
**
Unlike his In a Sentimental Mood, which swung wildly from Tin Pan Alley standards to supper-club blues, Afterglow is mostly interested in recapturing the late '40s and early '50s, when jazz, blues, and pop intersected with sophisticated ease. The choice of material is impeccable--songs made popular by Nat "King" Cole, Louis Jordan, and Duke Ellington--and the playing is superb throughout. However, "Ain't I Been Good to You," "Just a Lucky So and So," and a stark read of "I'm Confessin'" are particularly effective. And on his original, "I Still Believe in You," Dr. John proves just how influenced he is by West Coast blues legend Charles Brown, who once recorded at Cosimo Matassa's studio where the future Night Tripper got his start. A lovely, effective album whose only misstep is a version of Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies" that sounds slightly out of step with everything else.
By Keith Moerer.
**
Producer and GRP Records president Tommy LiPuma, a longtime associate of Dr. John's, revived his old Blue Thumb label as an imprint of GRP/MCA with this album, which served as something of a sequel to the last Dr. John/Tommy LiPuma collaboration, In a Sentimental Mood. On that earlier album, the two had covered pop standards. Here, they again turned to evergreens by the likes of Irving Berlin and Duke Ellington. But if Sentimental Mood was stylistically linked to the '20s and '30s, Afterglow was more a recreation of the late '40s and early '50s, with its big-band arrangements and the inclusion of jump blues numbers like Louis Jordan's "I Know What I've Got." Such songs allowed Dr. John plenty of room to play his trademark New Orleans piano solos, and, in the second half of the record, some of the Doctor's own compositions were snuck in among the classics without disturbing the mood. Of course, the dominant sound remained Dr. John's gravel-and-honey voice, an even more appropriate instrument for these bluesier standards than it was for the Sentimental ones.
William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide.
**
Thurman Green- (Trombone),
Maurice Spears- (Trombone),
John Clayton- (Bass),
Endre Granat- (Violin),
Robert Brosseau- (Violin),
Ray Kelley- (Cello),
Clay Jenkins- (Trumpet),
Pete Christlieb- (Saxophone),
George Bohannon- (Trombone),
Armen Garabedian- (Violin),
Bill Watrous- (Trombone),
Ira Nepus- (Trombone),
John Clayton- (Conductor),
Donald Waldrop- (Tuba),
Charlie Davis- (Trumpet),
Dave Trigg- (Trumpet),
Kim Richmond- (Saxophone),
Charles Owens- (Saxophone),
Rick Baptist- (Trumpet),
Dr. John- (Vocals),(Piano)
Ronald Clark- (Violin),
Jimbo Ross- (Viola),
Ezra Kliger- (Violin),
Larry Corbett- (Cello),
Gina Kronstadt- (Violin),
Ray Brown- (Bass), (Trumpet),
Rollice Dale- (Viola),
Larry Bunker- (Vibraphone),
Gary Foster- (Saxophone),
Tom Scott- (Saxophone),
Steve Huffsteter- (Trumpet),
Mari Tsumura- (Violin),
James Getzoff- (Violin),
Earl Madison- (Cello),
Thomas "Snake" Johnson- (Tuba),
Lenny Castro- (Percussion),
Tibor Zelig- (Violin),
Gordon Marron Strings- (Violin),
Mark Sazer- (Violin),
Larry Bunker- (Percussion),
Samuel Boghossian- (Viola),
Oscar Brashear- (Trumpet),
Suzie Katayama- (Cello),
Paul Shure- (Violin),
Shari Zippert- (Violin),
Phil Upchurch- (Guitar),
Mark Cargill- (Violin),
Jeff Clayton- (Saxophone),
Bonnie Douglas- (Violin),
Joel Derouin- (Violin),
Marilyn Baker- (Viola),
Jeff Hamilton- (Drums),
Israel Baker- (Violin),
Brian Leonard- (Violin).
**
01. I Know What I've Got
02. Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You
03. I'm Just A Luck So-And-So
04. Blue Skies
05. So Long
06. New York City Blues
07. Tell Me You'll Wait For Me
08. There Must Be A Better World Somewhere
09. I Still Think About You
10. I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)
**
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