Every Jazz Fest seems to bring another stack of one-off, local supergroup, live jam albums. What’s different about this one? For one thing, it wasn’t made during the Fest, but one early summer night at the Maple Leaf. For another, there isn’t a Meters cover or New Orleans standard in the batch. Then again, it’s not the kind of jam album that tried to knock you out with a million hot licks. Instead, it’s more about the grooves than the solos, restrained cool being the order of the day.
That’s pretty much what you’d expect from Joe Krown, who’s always coaxed solid grooves out of his B3. But the other two players are in less familiar territory; guitarist Washington usually works with larger and louder bands, so here he gets in some tasty rhythm work and elegant leads. And Batiste’s drumming is less flashy than it might be with the funky Meters or PBS. He’s lively and propulsive, but with fewer of the left curves that usually define his style.
Surprisingly, it’s the two really obvious choices that come off best. The stripped-down setting brings fresh nuance out of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” which here goes for the uplift in contrast to the anger and clutter of Dirty Dozen’s recent version. Bill Withers’ “Use Me” has been covered by everyone from Aaron Neville to Widespread Panic; but nearly everyone keeps the heavy funk of the original. Instead, this trio slows it down, alters the riff and gives it more of a steamy film noir treatment, which is perfectly in keeping with Withers’ lyric.
Also here are a couple of R&B nuggets that show off Washington’s voice, and a pair of instrumentals that sound improvised on the spot but are none the worse for it. By the time of the festive “Saturday Night Crawfish,” some crowd noise comes into the mix and you can tell how crowded and sweaty the place must have been.