Nothing like a big and macho horn section like baritone saxist John Mills, trumpeter Al Gomez and Mark “Kaz” Kazanoff on tenor to make you feel like the joint is jumping, no matter what the rest of the team is doing. These three gents make you feel like second coming of The Memphis Horns back in the days of Booker T and The MGs with some rough and ready boogie and jumping blues. They mix and match instrumentals with a rotating team of shuffling friends including guitarists Ronnie Earl and Johnny Moeller with a snappy rhythm section of Tommy Taylor/dr, Chris Maresh-Russell Jackson/b and Nick Connolly-Red Young/key as just a healthy sample of guests.
The horns take concise solos, but mostly supply 92 octane energy to pieces like the boogalooing “I’m Doing All Right At Least For Tonight” with Carolyn Wonderland’s sassy vocals, while Gary Nicholson is urgent on the chunky “Fix Your Face” and upbeat on the R&B “Soulshine.” The horns get STAXY with Moeller tapping into his inner BB King on the instrumental “Feelin’ No Pain” and Earl two steps on the stomping “Truckload of Trouble” with Bryant giving a Crescent City snap to “2018.” These guys are revving like a V16!