Stanton Moore

Stanton Moore - Groove Alchemy - 2010 - Telarc

Hooray for truth in advertising: It's no accident that this solo CD from Galactic drummer Stanton Moore has the word “groove” in its title, because grooving is what this disc is all about. Recorded simply with a trio consisting only of Moore, guitarist Will Bernard, and standout Robert Walter on Hammond B3 organ (presumably playing the bass parts with his feet), this music is sparse, simple and smart. Most tracks set up a nice cooking groove over which Bernard and Walter can improvise as Moore keeps things sharp and steady. Individual songs don't seem to matter much; it's the collective experience that impresses here, along with the smart composition (mostly by Moore and his band members) and of course, the grooving sounds. Also, this is some of the best engineering I've heard recently of instrumental music. Bass response is surprisingly tasty considering it's coming from an organ. Moore's drums drive the tunes with great clarity. If you dig old-time R&B-based groove-driven music from the likes of Booker T & the MGs, drive up to this and stay a while. by & © Howard Whitman on May 12, 2010 © http://www.technologytell.com/blog/2878/solo-cd-galactic-drummer-stanton-moore-groove-alchemy/

Stanton Moore serves up a swinging, funky sound that permeates the new CD, Groove Alchemy. Inspired by his New Orleans roots in the music of Professor Longhair, The Meters and Dr. John, the trio tears through a variety of concise and vibrant tracks. From the downbeat drum intro of the first number, Squash Blossom, the listener is taken for a rhythmic journey that acts as a reminder that music can be entertaining and fun. The interplay of the B3 and electric guitar provide a consistent, melodic landscape, fueled by Moore’s superb drumming. Whether the band is hammering the syncopated feel of Pie-Eyed Manic, or the uptempo, jazzy nuance of Knocker, the tremendous precision manages to elevate the sound beyond the narrowness of genre. Not relying entirely on funk grooves, there are blues numbers, Root Cellar ( a swinging fusion piece replete with a rare extended guitar solo ), and Up To Here, with a straight ahead organ lead. Of course there is a traditional Dixieland arrangement, Keep On Gwine, which features Robert Waller on the piano. Upbeat rockers like Pot Licker and Cleanse This House are energetic and create a harder edge. The group finishes with two slower undistinguished tunes: Aletta, the George Jones ode to romantic melancholy, and He Stopped Loving Her Today. The concise arrangements emphasize the symmetry and harmonics of the players. Instead of elongated solos, each musician is able to interpret the melody lines in a seamless interplay with each other. Clocking in at a mere 54 minutes, the 12 tracks have a lively pace. (Note: There is a companion instructional DVD for drums) © Robbie Gerson [Stanton Moore – Groove Alchemy – Telarc Records TEL-31890-02, 54:12 ***½] © Audiophile Audition All rights Reserved http://audaud.com/2010/05/stanton-moore-%E2%80%93-groove-alchemy-%E2%80%93-telarc-records/

Those expecting anything revolutionary or particularly new from Stanton Moore's trio with guitarist Will Bernard and Robert Walter on B-3 on Groove Alchemy will either be wonderfully relieved or woefully disappointed -- there isn’t. The CD is aural evidence of the trio doing what it does best: being funky and playing in a relaxed, open style that keeps the grooves tight and the musicianship at a maximum. And it's enough.Check out the guitar and organ solos in “Squash Bottom,” the first of these dozen tracks. The popping vamps create the vibe and give way naturally -- thanks to Moore’s deadly breaks -- to Bernard’s multi-string chord solo and the percussive organ flow Walter is so famous for. Things get downright Meters-esque on “Pie-Eyed Manic,” with stuttering breaks and two sets of riffs answering one another after four bars apiece. And on it goes, though “Pot Licker” is the funkiest Walter has ever sounded on the B-3. Bernard pushes his chords and leads right through the melody to let the left-hand organ bassline stick out front. Moore just rolls through and develops his grooves as he plays. There is a cover of James Booker's “Keep on Gwine” on which Walter plays piano. Though he does so beautifully, it’s more about Moore’s ability to let his Crescent City, second-line swing develop and carry the tune. There’s a longish cover of “Neeps and Tatties” that becomes an outright rhythm brawl between Walter and Moore, as Bernard just eases into the flow and lets the knottier side of his guitar style get into the fray -- all without letting the groove lilt. The real curve ball on this set is in its final track, a cover of the George Jones’ country vehicle “He Stopped Loving Her Today.” Bernard leads the way with his guitar on the melody, and Moore plays doubles on the front side rather than the backbeat. It’s still a ballad, but one that carries a distinctly New Orleans feel as it swells toward the end. Groove Alchemy is simply a good-time funky record, full of great beats, killer guitar, and nasty organ by a trio that knows how not to mess up a good thing. © Thom Jurek © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/groove-alchemy-r1739065/review

This album is also available on Hudson music with an instructional book and DVD of the same name. Drummer Stanton Moore along with guitarist Will Bernard, and keyboardist Robert Walter explore the roots of funk rhythms in drumming by examining the work of pioneers like Jabo Starks, Clyde Stubblefield, and Zigaboo Modeliste who were part of James Brown’s and the Meters’ great rhythm sections during the 1960s and based their styles on early 20th century New Orleans rhythms. Stanton has said that "A lot of the drummers that we consider to be the greatest groove players-Earl Palmer, Zigaboo Modeliste, John Bonham, Steve Jordan, John Jabo Starks- grew up hearing jazz and music that swung. They were all raised on Big Band jazz, bebop, blues, rhythm and blues, early rock''n''roll-all music based on swing. To be able to really groove, I think it''s important to be able to swing. With swing, it''s not enough to just play the notes. You have to make the notes feel good and groove. If you’re just a listener and a music fan, you can pick up the record and totally dig it for the music itself,” says Moore. “There’s nothing about that experience that has to be instructional. But if you’re a drummer, and you want to understand how I came up with these beats and understand the history of the music as I know it, in the hopes that you might deepen your knowledge and come up with new grooves as a result, then you can check out the book and the DVD.”Stanton has also said that "I don’t really put a lot of weight on genres at all. I love all types of music. I might listen to some jazz when I fall asleep and then wake up, start cooking something, and be in the mood for Black Sabbath [laughs], Desmond Dekker or John Coltrane. There are only two genres of music to me; good music and bad music. I really just don’t worry about it too much. I like to pick tunes for the record that are going to demonstrate certain vibes and different aspects of my drumming. I like to play different things stylistically, but I don’t get really hung up on it because I love all different kinds of music as long as it’s GOOD". "Groove Alchemy" is a brilliant rhythmic jazz funk recording that blends jazz, funk, R&B, pop, and hard rock. The music is steeped in New Orleans' influences and a lot more. There is plenty of experimentation and exploration on this album, but it always holds your attention, and improves with repeated listening. The album is HR by A.O.O.F.C. Listen to Stanton's brilliant "III" album. Stanton Moore Trio's "Emphasis! On Parenthesis" album is @ STMO30/EMPOPAR [All tracks @ 320 Kbps: File size = 138 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1. Squash Blossom - Robert Walter 4:32
2. Pie-Eyed Manc - Stanton Moore & Robert Walter4:49
3. Pot Licker - Robert Walter 4:35
4. Root Cellar - Will Bernard 4:47
5. Keep on Gwine - Melvin Lastie 5:23
6. Neeps and Tatties - Will Bernard 6:18
7. Up to Here - Robert Walter 3:57
8. Knocker - Robert Walter 5:10
9. Shiftless - Robert Walter 5:12
10. Cleanse This House - Robert Walter 4:13
11. Aletta - Stanton Moore & Erkan Gursal 2:10
12. He Stopped Loving Her Today - Robert Valentine Braddock & Claude Jr. Putnam 3:09

MUSICIANS

Will Bernard - Guitar
Robert Walter - Hammond B3 Organ, Piano
Stanton Moore - Drums

BIO

A New Orleans musician in every sense of the word, drummer Stanton Moore's main gig is with his enormously popular funk band Galactic but he also plays with a wide variety of other musicians in both club and studio settings. Growing up in New Orleans, Moore was attracted to the thriving music scene, where he absorbed the work of Professor Longhair, Meters drummer Zigaboo Modeliste, and his mentor, Johnny Vidacovich. After meeting founding Galactic members Robert Mercurio and Rich Vogel in the early '90s, Moore played in a series of early versions of the group, including Galactic Prophylactic and the Ivanhoes (in which the band learned a good portion of the catalog of the legendary Meters, New Orleans' founding funk band). In 1994, producer Dan Prothero featured the band's song "Black Eyed Pea" on his Is That Jazz compilation. The band soon recorded Coolin' Off (1996) for Fog City Records, joined in the studio (and, eventually, on the road) by vocalist Theryl Declouet. Through constant touring, Moore met and collaborated with many established funk and jazz musicians, including Medeski, Martin & Wood keyboardist John Medeski, Karl Denson, and even the Meters' bassist George Porter, Jr. Two musicians that Moore hit it off with in particular were eight-string guitarist and T.J. Kirk founder Charlie Hunter and saxophonist Skerik. With this core, the band played a handful of live dates and, in the weeks after Mardi Gras 1998, cut what would become Moore's first solo disc, All Kooked Out! The disc also featured a handful of New Orleans horn players, including Brent Rose, Brian Seeger, Matt Perrine, Ben Ellman, and former Sun Ra trumpet player Michael Ray. Following the recording of Crazyhorse Mongoose with Galactic, crammed in between Galactic tours, Moore traveled with Hunter and Skerik, playing incendiary live shows throughout the West. Many of Moore's songs are included in Galactic's set list. He has often played around New Orleans with a revolving cast of musicians, billed as Moore and More. He has also been a member of the New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars. He has released a handful of solo albums, following 1998's previously mentioned All Kooked Out! with Flyin' the Koop in 2001, III in 2006, and Emphasis! On Parenthesis in 2008. Moore has continued to remain active as a member of Galactic, which released their groundbreaking Ya-Ka-May on Anti in February of 2010, and as a solo artist. In April of that year he released Groove Alchemy on the Telarc Jazz imprint. © Jesse Jarnow © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/stanton-moore-p294573/biography