Fredrik Lundin's tribute to blues great
Leadbelly was inspired by an earlier jazz musician's salute,
Clifford Jordan's
These Are My Roots. But the multi-reed player takes a fresh approach to this music, leading a tight European ensemble. Many of the songs are recast as if played by a current New Orleans blues band. "Goodnight, Irene" showcases a strong vocal and trumpet solo by Per Jørgenson, while the equally funky "Take This Hammer" showcases great interplay between the leader's tenor sax and the extensive brass section. "Black Girl" alternately features Krister Jonsson's acoustic guitar with the leader's throaty tenor sax and his scoring of the richly textured brass ensemble. His reworking of "De Gray Goose" transforms this blues vehicle into a strut. Lundin's one original, "Belly-Up," showcases Jonsson's electric guitar and a fine muted trombone solo by Lis Wessberg in what sounds like a bluesy funeral march on the way to a Crescent City cemetery. Though
Leadbelly's music has been unjustly overlooked in recent memory except for a few recordings by rock artists, this innovative approach to
Hughie Ledbetter's music is well worth exploring. ~ Ken Dryden