Homegrown Music May 2002 Dancing Tree Newsletter May 21, 2002 Review by Bryan Rodgers Joseph Patrick Moore – Alone Together CD - Outstanding solo work from this master of the low end! This is truly a solo bass CD, with Moore using only bass to create his visions. Loops, solos, and complex compositions dot this enhanced CD, which features a video of Moore performing DRIVE, and much more. Moore is best know for hist stints with BlueGround UnderGrass and Fiji Mariners. Your jaw will be on the floor….this guy simply tears it up! An Honest Tune, June/2001 Review by Bryan Irby New BlueGround UnderGrass bassist Joseph Moore (ex-Col. Bruce Hampton and the FijiMariners/Planet Zambee) has just released a second solo album on his own independent label MMP. SOULCLOUD continues in the same contemporary jazz vein as his 1996 release NEVER NEVER LAND. While much of this material is a bit too smooth for my jazz tastes there are some definite funky highlights like ASHES TO ASHES, MUMPHIS COSANOSTRA, and DATZ IT, all 3 which feature Yonrico Scott (Derek Trucks Band) on drums and Jimmy Herring on guitar. The simpler, bass-centric tunes on the album are also among the best tracks. Pause #3 is a bass, sitar & drum free-jazz piece dedicated to Miles Davis Drummer Tony Williams (Pause 1 and 2 on NEVER NEVER LAND were dedicated to Miles Davis and Jaco Pastorius). BIG BUTT BASS is exactly that: in-yer-face solo slap bass, and there’s a nice bass & saxophone take on Led Zepplin‘s GOING TO CALIFORNIA. These tunes and the hidden track ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER TIME ( a beautiful rainy-day-in-Memphis piece) outshine the title track and a cover of DUST IN THE WIND which I find unlistenable. Catch Joseph Patrick Moore on tour with BlueGround UnderGrass or his own group. Based in Atlanta, former Memphis Groovetet bass player Joseph Patrick Moore funks up his considerable jazz chops on SOULCLOUD which lies in the Yellowjackets/Weather Report vein through with a more rocking jam band attack at times (the highlight MUMPHIS COSONOSTRA). Moore even arranges Led Zeppelin‘s GOIN’ TO CALIFORNIA – a gentle bass sax duet – and Kansas’s Dust in the Wind which, as the record’s one misstep, is a pretty awkward one. The smooth fusion compositions by Moore and keyboardist Frank Amato benefit from the leader’s melodic grooves and give room for numerous fretboard workouts a la inspiration Jaco Pastorius. The disc’s horn players equally shine. Not many folks can walk this familar yet demanding walk. Moore, a member of Col. Bruce Hampton & the Fiji Mainers in its final year- does and convincingly so.
Catch him in town February 3rd, 2001 at Legends with BlueGround UnderGrass on Beale. Street. Versatile Atlanta-based bassist Moore’s new album is packed with fun grooves from the word go. His technique and ideas are steeped in the electric bass developments of the past thirty years, but with a fresh contemporary edge. The band fries up a hot passel of funk on track #1. The horns are hot and deep into the boogie, Moore’s envelope-filtered bass adds a Bootsy Collins vibe, and Aquarium Rescue Unit guitarist Jimmy Herring tempers the sauce with a cupful of hot bluesiness. Tracks #2 and #5 give the expected nod to Jaco; track #3 begins with thumping worthy of Marcus Miller and evolves into pretty double-stops. These tracks especially flaunt Moore’s studio-quality chops. Though most of their names are unfamiliar, Moore’s sidemen are complementary, empathetic and well chosen. Pianist Bill Anschell lays down a Ramsey Lewis-style groove on #7 and ‘Buzz’ Amato boots the organ around the floor before trumpeter Vance Thompson enters with soulful lyricism. Moore closes the disc with covers of classic songs by Led Zeppelin and Kansas. The former is driven smoothly along by Moore’s taut harmonics and fingerstyle melodicism, while the latter floats on an unexpectedly successful Latin jazz beat. Palmer Williams‘ vocals on the last tune are notably fluid and enjoyable. Joseph Patrick Moore is definitely a talent worth hearing, and this well-made disc will be of particular interest to electric bass aficionados. Track listing: Datz It; Ashes To Ashes; Big Butt Bass; Soulcloud; Pause #3; Mumphis Cosanostra; Cosmic Dance; Going To California; Dust In The Wind. Personnel: Moore, acoustic and electric basses, shaker; Jimmy Herring, guitar; Yonrico Scott, Phillip Smith, drums; Bill Anschell, Bob Marbach, piano; Frank “Buzz” Amato, keyboards; Vance Thompson, trumpet and flugelhorn; Stan Cherednik, alto and soprano saxes; Bryan Lopes, tenor sax; Palmer Williams Jr., vocals. Style: Fusion/Progressive Rock Published: December 01, 2000 Performer Magazine, December 2000 Southeast addition Review by K. Harris Now, Joseph Patrick Moore’s Soul Cloud is a smooth and relaxing album with just a touch of funk. While listening to this album, the following is the picture that it created. If you will, please envision that you and your girl (or significant other) are sitting in a cozy, dimly lit (like a Love Jones atmosphere) couples restaurant as you two occupy a corner. Across the room on a small, low stage, there is a band playing as you two talk and laugh. Soul Cloud does not actually create a candle lit evening, but it does create a comfortable, friendly, social vibe that might make a room give quiet applause with a catcall and possibly a whistle after the band’s set. You pay attention to the music, rather than just getting lost into their dates. This is mainly an instrumental jazz collective that displays everything from string instruments to horns, with a few extras in between. Moore and company get down with songs like DATZ IT, ASHES TO ASHES, MUMPHUS COSANOSTRA, displaying nothing but musical talent. Kudos to the sax player that made his instrument wail, wallow, and cry in COSMIC DANCE. It was so impressive that it had to be rewound to ensure I heard what I thought I heard. Also JPM shows skills that were second to none in GOING TO CALIFORNIA. To sum the album up, Soul Cloud is well-written, exquisitely produced, and fabulously performed. If this project is any indication, Joseph Patrick Moore will be delighting music listeners for many years to come. JazzUsa.com by Raymond Redmond This second album from bassist Joseph Patrick Moore is good. Not superior, but solid. The first song Datz It starts out a little weak, but by the end it is full and jumping. Then comes Ashes to Ashes and you begin to think there may be something here. The keyboard work of Bill Anschell and Vance Thompson’shorn work shine here, as they do throughout the CD, and Jimmy Herring plays a wicked guitar solo in the middle.
After Big Butt Bass, a 27 second song/solo by Moore on his bass, comes the title tune. Perhaps there is a melodic harmonic intent here, but it gets by me. I found the song to be interesting but pretty atonal. It has some great horn work in it, but it would not be my choice for a title tune. After another interlude, this one a 1-1/2 minute drum-centric piece dedicated to Tony Williams, Moore comes back strong and funky on Mumphis Cosanostra. Sort of retro, this is one of the better songs on the CD, and it again features strong horn lines and some groovin keyboard lines by Anschell. The bass throughout the album is strong and rhythmic, Moore definitely has his own style. Cosmic Dance is even more retro with it’s Chicago-esque horn lines and hammond-ish keyboards. Goin’ to California is the obligatory ‘this is my album and I’m gonna do a mostly solo song to show off my chops’ song. Stanley Clarke does it all the time, and Moore is good enough to pull it off. The CD ends up with a lively rendition of the classic pop tune ‘Dust in the Wind‘, which has more of those odd harmonies that bothered me on the title track. There is also a hidden track at the ten minutes mark o f ‘Dust’ (which fades after three minutes or so). It’s a rainy day kind of thing that is better than some of the noted songs on the CD. With Soul Cloud, Joseph Patrick Moore has brought together some good musicians and put together a release that is a step up into the big time. A little more polish here and there, less of that odd harmony and Joseph Patrick Moore will be a major player in the Jazz world. The first image that came to mind when I listened to SoulCloud, which features bassist Joseph Patrick Moore’s original compositions, was a swank nightclub patroned by hipsters cloaked in black leather at some unidentified New York venue. Tipping its hat to 1970s funk, this CD contains talented musicians and tight ensemble work, both of which are further strengthened by a quality recording. Solo highlights include trumpeter Vance Thompson on track 4, pianist Bill Anschell on track 2, and drummer Phillip Smith on track 5, not to mention Moore’s own bass prowess, which he shows off on an intense bass solo that evokes memoirs of Seinfeldesque city streets entitled BIG BUTT BASS. The name tells it all. This is a strong CD, much to Moore’s credit. However, while swank isn’t necessarily a bad image, nearly 9 tracks of it does lend itself to leaving the listener rather musically parched. The instrumentation on 6 of the 9 tracks – bass, guitar, brass, drums, keyboards has little variation, and the structure of the pieces felt rather convoluted at times until the solos kicked in. The ensemble in general lacked a certain spark, incited when the members click perfectly together on a personal and musical level. Rather, I heard several talented musicians playing different instruments at the same time. Perhaps on the next CD Moore can experiment with his setup through utilizing a smaller group of musicians or varying the instrumentation on more tracks. Moore’s arrangement of GOING TO CALIFORNIA was beautiful, providing a welcome respite from the dark, underground atmosphere of the earlier tracks. Most worthy of note was his jazzed-up arrangement of DUST IN THE WIND, to be avoided by any of you Kansas purists out there. I, on the other hand, highly enjoyed the brisk, sunny-side-up mood. These shortcomings did little to detract from my coffee and Nutella morning ritual, however. I indeed look forward to and hope to hear more of this bassist’s creations. Inside Savannah , November 2000 Review by Jeff McDermott What does a bassist do when he’s leading the session? Stay in the rhythm section and you’re too subdued. Work the front of the arrangement and you’re showboating. Moore, a former member of Col. Bruce Hampton‘s groups the Fiji Mariners and Planet Zambee tries to ride the fence on his second solo CD. It’s mostly a mainstream jazz effort, showing some tasteful interplay with bass and brass on cuts like DATZ IT. Things dangerously approach fusion when guests like guitarist Jimmy Herring does the yank-me-crank-me on ASHES TO ASHES (not the Bowie song). Fans of Joseph’s long-strange-trip workouts with the Col. might find this a nice CD to play during dinner. |
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