On his second offering for the Basin Street label, pianist,
guitarist, singer, and songwriter Jon Cleary and his smoking band, the
Absolute Monster Gentlemen, take their Crescent City funky groove machine
and open it up to the eclectic side of nighttime party music from across
the rhythm and blues, jazz, and even Afro-Caribbean spectrum. Working
once more with producer John Porter, Cleary and the Gents keep the blues,
soul, jazz and second-line grooves that make them such a central live
attraction in New Orleans, and slick them up just a bit. These songs have
an almost futuristic bent to them, which gives them an off-kilter feel
as they encounter the popping rhythm section of bassist Cornell Williams,
percussionist Daniel Sadownick, and drummer Raymond Weber. Cleary's voice
is smooth enough for a jazzman's croon as he plies his keyboards and guitar
fills in concert with Derwin Perkins' wonderful rhythm playing. Cleary
is also fortunate to have singers like Perkins, Williams, and Ivan Neville
helping him out, creating a chorale of male voices that cannot be topped.
For fans of Moonbeam and Absolute Monster Gentlemen, Pin Your Spin
is a subtler record: it's far more nocturnal and mysterious. A listen
to the opening title track is excellent evidence of this. With the synth
bass slowly vamping in groove, the guitars and keyboards strut in concert
over skittering rimshots. The slippery "Agent 00 Funk," touches
upon the layered soul vocals of Parliament as the half-step syncopated
cadences put the listener in a kind of ethereal, finger-snapping, Jetsons-era
frightzone. But it's on "Oh No No No," with its Cuban son piano
(via a New Orleans Street party) stylings and smooth vocal harmonies that
is the real surprise here. The killer "Best Ain't Good Enuf,"
is an acappella doo wop tune offers the view that this is really Cleary's
vocal album. It's flawless, with all the right silky sheen in the harmonies.
"Funky Munky Biznis," is right and tight, with dirty-ass guitars
and sub-basement bass popping. The futuristic noir in "Is It Any
Wonder," would seep completely out to lunch if it wasn't for the
beatnik slither in its soulful vocals. For fans of basic New Orleans stomp
and stroll, there is the oily "Got to Be More Careful," and
the return to Cubana with a host of second-line polyrhythms in "Zulu
Strut." In all, this is the most musically satisfying and adventurous
outing Cleary has issued to date. - Thom Jurek
