 When
Rockin' Jake received the OffBeat award for Best Harmonica Player
for the fourth time in January of 2002, the New Orleans music
community gave a hearty ovation to a player who has been accepted
as fixture on the Crescent City music scene. Now he's celebrating
that fact with the release of the hard-rocking Full-Time Work.
Jake's style, a combination of pre-WWII influences and urban blues delivered with the heft of a rock arrangement, is well supported here by an outstanding core band made up of producer Brian Stoltz of the Funky Meters on guitar, the mighty John Gros of Papa Grows Funk on keyboards, Ron Johnson from Karl Denson's Tiny Universe on bass and drummer Doug Belote, who plays with Stoltz behind Monk Boudreaux's Golden Eagles. Ben Ellman of Galactic adds his incendiary tenor saxophone playing to "Only Love Can Conquer Hate." You can almost see the sparks flying on "Slippin' Away" when Theryl "Houseman" de'Clouet and Irene Sage team up for the first time in a memorable duet. The album closes with Jake's trademark arrangement of "Amazing Grace," a perennial high point of his live performances. "The way me and Brian had this set up, I felt so relaxed right from the beginning," said Jake. "We only rehearsed enough so the guys had a framework for the songs. We left a lot of space for everybody to play freely and we were able to do the basic tracks in two days." The result is a fresh, dynamic take on contemporary New Orleans blues played by one of its brightest lights. And while we're at it, do not forget about Rockin' Jake's BADMOUTH Hot Sauce, which is celebrated herein on "The Hot Sauce Song." Among other things, it's the greatest hot dog relish ever created. --John Swenson Editor, The Rolling Stone Jazz and Blues Album Guide |
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Track List 1. Only Love Can Conquer Hate (L.Jacobs/B.Stoltz) Rockin' Jake - lead vocals, harmonicas 2. Full-Time Work, Part-Time Pay (L.Jacobs) Rockin' Jake - lead vocals 3. Hit the Highway (L.Jacobs) Rockin' Jake - lead vocals, harmonicas 4. Going Back To The Big Easy (L.Jacobs) Rockin' Jake - lead vocals, harmonicas 5. Slippin' Away (L.Jacobs/B.Stoltz/J.McCormick) Rockin' Jake - harmonicas 6. Blues For NYC (L.Jacobs/B.Stoltz/J.Gros/R.Johnson/D.Belote) Rockin' Jake - harmonicas 7. Hot Sauce (L.Jacobs/B.Stoltz) Rockin' Jake - lead vocals, harmonicas,
background vocals
Rockin' Jake - lead vocals, harmonicas,
tambourine, background vocals 9. Christmas Morning Blues (L.Jacobs/S.Price) Rockin' Jake - lead vocals, harmonicas Rockin' Jake - harmonicas Produced by Brian Stoltz To purchase "Full-Time Work" please send $16.50 to: The Rockin’ Jake Band, Inc.
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Last Updated: 4/3/02