Put on your dancing shoes…
Chris Daniels sings with a vengeance, plays slide guitar, synth guitar and “regular”guitar as he brings growling vocalist Freddi Growdi in the front of a Tower of Powerful core team of Randy Amen/dr, Kevin Lege/b, Colin Jones/g, Jim Waddell/as-ts, Darryl Abrahamson/tp and a series of guests on keyboards, guitar, bass an d horns. The songs a filled with more punches than Merriwether on the bluesy “Fried Food/Hard Liquour” nifty “You Can Stay But That Noise Must Go” and the stomping “Wouldn’t Treat a Dog (The Way You Treated Me).” The B3 buzzes through a hard hitting take of “Them Changes” and the guitars slide like Ricky Henderson on a swampy “Sweet Memphis” with the session closing with a casual and cozy piano on “ Rain Check.” Gotta see these guys in concert!
The team of Jayson Tripp/key, Kenny Franklin/b, Brian Foxworth/dr, Evan Mustard/g, John Moak/tb, David Evans/ts, Nat Caranto/as and Joe Powers/harm deliver a mix of Memphis funk and soulful fusion on this collection of originals. Evans’ tenor glides through the backbeat of “Breaking Through” while the horns give an AWB feel to the wacka wooka guitar of “November 30th.” Franklin’s thumb is working overtime as he teams with Foxworth for a rivulet on “LIT” and the fusion “I Just Can’t Wait.” Flashes of vintage Crusaders gets the feet shuffling during “September Groove” and Mustard stays on the hot dog during the pretty “George is His Name.” Good news for the toe tappers.