Erik
Lawrence & Hipmotism
Independent
Reviewed
by Peter Aaron
Anyone
who’s ever made it to one of Levon Helm’s
Midnight Ramble sessions in Woodstock will no doubt
remember saxophonist Erik Lawrence. Planted squarely
in the brass section at stage left, the shaggy-goateed reedsman
can be found laying out the crucial, soulful lines that buttress
the
band’s famously down-home sound. But outside of his
coveted
Ramble gig, Lawrence leads two fine bands of his own: the
jazzpoetry
project Merge, which released an excellent self-titled CD
last year, and Hipmotism, a quartet that also features Lawrence’s
Ramble foil, trumpet ace Steven Bernstein, and the Merge rhythm
section of bassist Rene Hart and monster drummer Allison Miller.
Although the group’s members have long worked in all
stripes
of jazz and its many tangents, Hipmotism’s methodology
is an
irresistibly unapologetic return to the music’s base—the
blues,
specifically those of the deeply funky New Orleans variety.
Using
feet-warming Mardi Gras shuffles as the jumping-off point,
the
foursome not only works out on Crescent City standards by
Earl
King and Fats Domino but also applies its gumbo-dipped basting
brush to The Beatles’ “Come Together” and—believe
it—Pink
Floyd’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” stretching
them both to
places even their psychedelic creators couldn’t have
predicted.
But it’s when things are at their most blues-pronounced
that
Hipmotism’s richly infectious approach is really in
full force; check
the sweet, mournful groove of Duke Ellington’s “Creole
Love
Call” or the noir-ish sledgehammer swing of Doc Pomus’s
“Lonely
Avenue.” A thoroughly solid effort with as much hips
as brains,
this disc will be an instant hit with jazz lovers—as
well as with those
who claim not to be.
www.hipmotism.com
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