Drummin' Up a Storm continues
Sandy Nelson's collaboration with producer and session ace Richie Podolor, co-writer of the drummer's smash "Let There Be Drums." While nothing here matched their previous commercial success, this is nevertheless a better-than-average entry in the vast
Nelson catalog, achieving a fine balance between well-chosen covers and original material. While the former category establishes
Nelson in contexts like New Orleans R&B (
Fats Domino's "I'm in Love Again") and jazz (
Duke Ellington's "C-Jam Blues"), everything here pales in the looming shadow of the
Nelson original "All Around the World with Drums," a protean 12-minute epic that employs virtually every rhythm and studio effect known to man. ~ Jason Ankeny