Singer-songwriter Michael Doucet doesn’t want you to think that his new band, Michael Doucet avec Lâcher Prise, plays Cajun music. Instead, call it Southwestern Louisiana music, he says. The distinction is a fine one. Cajun music—the kind for which Doucet won multiple Grammys with his longtime group, BeauSoleil—draws primarily on Acadia-derived folk traditions. But the Southwestern Louisiana music that his new group plays on Lâcher Prise (Compass Records) can be, well, just about anything that this quintet of erudite musicians can come up with.
In French, “lâcher prise” means “to let go,” an analogue for the musical freedom that Doucet encourages on the new album. As with Doucet’s other ensembles, the Lâcher Prise sound centers on Doucet’s spitfire fiddling and throaty vocals, but along with singer Sarah Quintana’s powerful harmonies and the sophisticated fretwork of the group’s guitarists—Quintana, Chad Viator, and Chris French—the lasting impression on the ears is less bayou roots and more syncretic global.
It’s a fascinating mix of stuff. Take, for example, Doucet’s happy, twangy two-step, “Water Water”; the bittersweet waltz “Abandonne,” sung in Louisiana French; the New Orleans march “Walking On A Mardi Gras Day,” led by drummer Jim Kolacek’s solid monodic pulse; and the delightful “Cajun Gypsy,” an informed showdown between country and classical idioms. Southwestern Louisiana music, it seems, is a window to the world.
Ordering info: www.compassrecords.com
As a drummer and vocalist, Sammy Miller exudes pure likeability on Leaving Egypt (self-released), his debut album with The Congregation, his seven-piece jazz band. The album is a paean to positivity, but that isn’t all it is. It’s also a showcase for the players’ outstanding musicianship.
Miller met the members of The Congregation in 2014, when they were jazz students at Juilliard, all looking for a way to use their music to engage and uplift audiences. The nine tunes on Leaving Egypt do just this, with their encouraging messages (“It Gets Better”), laugh-out-loud moments (“Date A Jew”), and catchy, sing-able melodies (all of them, really).
Miller’s intended bonhomie would be lost, however, if the music weren’t as expert as it is—treacle may be sweet, but it doesn’t persuade. That’s why the fleeting harmonic dissonances and introspective melodic lines—as on “Before,” the set-up for “It Gets Better”—are important. Instead of preaching, Miller tells the story. And the closer one listens to the tunes’ musical underpinnings—as with the beautifully colored trumpet solo on “Bluebird” and the touching, alone-in-a-room solo piano piece, “When I Am Gone”— the more persuasive Miller’s story becomes.
Ordering info: www.sammymillercongregation.com
If you didn’t know better, on first listen to Nick of Time (Daptone Records) by The James Hunter Six, you’d think it’s a long-lost Motown record. All of the classic soul sounds are in there—the early rock-blues guitar chords, bright organ riffs, gospel shouts, a wailing harmonica. The 13 tunes are short—most come in under three minutes, just right for old-time radio play. And then there are James Hunter’s raspy vocals, raw in their expressiveness.
Lest there be any question about it, though, while the U.K.-bred singer-songwriter might lean toward retro, he isn’t a throw-back. He’s using a vintage musical language (like Doucet) to tell a present-day tale (like Miller). The modern giveaways in Hunter’s new album lie in the refined, clean-edged horn arrangements, interjected throughout like a vocal line, and the contemporary themes in Hunter’s lyrics. With their aura of self-determination, Hunter’s words speak more to 21st century concerns than to post-war angst: the rambunctious “Ain’t Going Up In One Of Those” talks about an aversion to flying; “Take It As You Find It,” with its relaxed pop R&B vibe, challenges long-standing notions of romantic love; and the subtly swinging “Paradise For One” extols the virtues of singlehood. But even as his lyrics remind us how things change, his music suggests that not everything has to.
Ordering info: www.daptonerecords.com
(Reprinted from the April 2020 issue of Downbeat magazine)