After thirty-five years of being at the forefront of the ever-evolving musical landscape of New Orleans, Grammy Award winner Jon Cleary decided to bring that sound back home, both figuratively and literally. He assembled his Absolute Monster Gentlemen (his acclaimed all-star big band) in his home studio in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans, drew up a setlist of some of his most beloved songs– and some new favorites– and rolled tape.
“We set out to capture that sound in the old-fashioned way: everybody in the room, playing together,” Cleary explains.
The result is The Bywater Sessions (due out April 25th), a musical tour-de-force that showcases the grit, funk and joy that’s packed concert halls from New Orleans to Tokyo and beyond. Co-produced by Cleary and John Porter (Roxy Music, The Smiths, Taj Mahal), it’s a stunning collection of performances that affirms Cleary’s place in the New Orleans musical vanguard.
As for the musicians, it’s the best of the best. Long time Monster Gentlemen Cornell Williamsand A.J. Hall anchor the band on bass and drums, respectively. They are joined by Nigel Hall (Lettuce) on Hammond organ, Pedro Segundo (Ronnie Scott’s All Stars) on percussion, Xavier Lynn (MonoNeon, Ledisi) on guitar, and an all-star horn section of Aaron Narcisse (Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra), Charlie Halloran (Squirrel Nut Zippers, Preservation Hall All Stars) and Jason Mingledorff (Galactic).
On The Bywater Sessions, the band that Rolling Stone’s David Fricke called “as broad, deep and rolling as the Mississippi river” is finally captured as intended– live, in the room and as funky as ever. And with that comes an invitation from Cleary himself:
“Close your eyes, imagine you’re in the room with us, me and the band, Mike Dorsey the engineer, John Porter the producer and Reed the manager. Turn it up and enjoy the experience. I hope you have as much fun listening as we did playing.”
Today Glide is excited to offer an exclusive premiere of the standout track “Unnecessarily Mercenary,” a piano-driven work of bluesy R&B that is positively brimming with the gris gris that makes Cleary such a timeless force in New Orleans music. On this cut, Cleary lays down some of his most soulful vocals to date while his band provides a funkified, grooving soundtrack of sharp, danceable instrumentals and party-ready harmonies. Of course, we get a fiery bit of action on the keys from Cleary as he leans into more of a blues-soul sound. With such a long and storied career under his belt already, should it even be surprising that Cleary is still at the top of his game? “Unnecessarily Mercenary” proves that the answer is no, and that Cleary continues to be one of the Crescent City’s finest musical exports. While the piano player has always held his own playing solo , it is refreshing to hear him backed by the powerful talent of this band.
Cleary describes the inspiration behind the tune:
“I introduced this song on an album called ‘Moonburn’ a long time ago but it’s changed since then and this is how we play it live on the gig today. My friend, Bonnie Raitt, liked it enough to kindly include it on one of her records when I played in her band, and we still sing it together on occasion. Xavier Lynn seems to be channeling his inner B.B. on the intro, and Aaron Narcisse wails on that tenor.”
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One Response
Clean as a whistle, sharp as a knife 😎