There aren’t a lot of times you hear a live disc and think to yourself “I wish I were there”, but this concert at The Maple Leaf by The Rumble makes me want to take in the atmosphere and vibe. The band consists of Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. voc/tamb, Aurelien Barnes/tp-voc, TJ Norris/b-voc, Ari Teitel/g-voc, Joseph Maize/voc-tb, Andriu Yanovski/key-voc, Trenton O’Neal/dr and Amari Ansari/ts with Pedro Segundo/perc as guests.
The photos in the liner notes make you hearken back to something by Sun Ra or The Art Ensemble of Chicago, while the music is somewhere between Sly and the Family Stone and James Brown with the Famous Flames. There’s some wild wacka-wooka guitar on a get down “Chief Got A New Suit” and an irresistible bass line on “Golden Brown”. The horns are as funky as The Memphis Horns with thrilling vocals and grooves on the get down “Low Down” and the Shaft-ish “New Suit”. Tons of funky chicken beats and vocal shouts prevail “Up Until The Morning” and “Uptown”. Can someone let me know if they ever pull their trailer into town? WHEW