Long before there was any such thing as jam bands, there was Max Creek. Road warriors who relish the possibilities of extended improvisation, the band’s current incarnation maintains the group tradition of the group and its longstanding adventurous approach.
Recorded with stereo-spanning accuracy by Rich Mazur at eight stops during the group’s forty-fifth-anniversary tour, 45 & Live set documents the irrepressible gusto of the venerable quintet, its defining quality. The joy Max Creek imparts to guitarist Scott Murawski’s “She’s Here” doesn’t appreciably diminish for its duration and continues through the ten and a half minutes of “Devil’s Heart,” Mark Mercier’s keyboards are consistently prominent as he, like his counterparts, leaves room for Jamemurrell Stanley’s percussion: the rhythmatist’s accents highlight the mix of Alan Venitosh who also mastered this album (but might’ve captured more bottom of the sonic spectrum in doing so).
More often than not, Max Creek’s arrangements, some of which are superior to the material itself, reveal their other virtues as an ensemble. For instance, the quintet’s grasp of the shifting dynamics within “Into The Ocean” speaks to its nimble collective skills, while the self-discipline necessary for coherent free playing comes to the fore during the simplicity of Bob Dylan’s “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight.” Yet as indisputably crowd-pleasing as are “I Got My Mojo Workin’” and “After Midnight,” those somewhat pedestrian choices don’t match the ingenuity of Max Creek’s spontaneous musicianship.
During such fluid interludes and transitions on “Emerald Eyes,” for instance, the propulsion of the rhythm section never flags. On the contrary, bassist John Rider and drummer Bill Carbone inject a suspenseful tension that ultimately renders “Midnight Special” too careful a closing in contrast. 45 & Live doesn’t exactly end with a whimper, but it doesn’t finish with a bang either: a single CD might’ve been preferable to commemorate this band’s milestone, if only to remind of the potency in the jamming at which this band has excelled for so long. Such moments are the most memorable of this colorfully-designed package.
