Sunday, January 23, 2022

Mace Francis Plus 11: “Isolation Emancipation” (2021) CD Review

Mace Francis is a trombone player and composer based in Western Australia. He has released several albums with Mace Francis Orchestra, arranging jazz standards as well as composing his own material. His new project is Mace Francis Plus 11, a big band offering some swinging tunes to help transport us all to a different time. Isolation Emancipation, as the title suggests, was recorded when the lockdown ended, and the music contains a good amount of joy reflecting that sense of freedom and relief. This album features mostly original material written by Mace Francis. The band is made up of Gemma Farrell on alto saxophone, Jayden Blockley on saxophone and flute, Jemima Mills on baritone saxophone, Marty Pervan on trumpet, Ricki Malet on trumpet, Tahlia Denn on French horn, Steve Bickley on trombone, Mace Francis on trombone, Harry Mitchell on piano, Alistair Peel on bass, Bronton Ainsworth on drums, and Lucy Iffla on vocals. Lucy Iffla sings on half the tracks, the others being instrumentals.

This wonderful album opens with “Casserole For Two.” As it begins, Lucy Iffla sings, “Please pull up a chair/Relax, nothing to care about,” words many of us have been eager to hear. The last couple of years have been stressful for everyone the world over, and the four before that were also terrible for those of us in the United States. And this song is about getting together, enjoying each other’s company, having some wine. Sharing food, drink and conversation. What’s better? The lyrics were written by Minky Gardner. This track also features an excellent instrumental section, with great work from the horn section, as well as a delightful lead on piano. Things get more lively with “The Pudding March,” a tune that makes me wish I had taken dance lessons back when the Derby was offering them weekly here in Los Angeles. But, hey, we can make it up as we go, right? This is a fun instrumental number, featuring a good lead on trumpet. I also love that lead on piano, with that great bass line driving everything forward beneath it. Close your eyes, and you can easily imagine yourself at a hopping, swinging club like seventy years ago. That’s followed by a cover of Duke Ellington’s “In My Solitude,” featuring a gorgeous vocal performance from Lucy Iffla, and some equally beautiful work on saxophone. And how fitting are these lyrics for the time of isolation during the pandemic: “I sit in my chair/Filled with despair/There’s no one could be so sad/With gloom everywhere/I sit and I stare/I know that I’ll soon go mad/In my solitude.”

“Isolation Emancipation,” the album’s title track is a delicious, cool number that struts and strolls right into your home and with a finger snap or two transforms your place into the hippest club, full of merriment, music, and dancing. You’ll be tapping your toes and smiling, and not wanting reality to return to whatever it was before this tune began. This track even features a lead on bass. You can’t really ask for anything more.  That’s followed by the album’s second cover, a surprising choice, “Home On The Range,” written by Daniel E. Kelley. When I think of this song, I think of the Neil Young version that plays at the beginning of the film Where The Buffalo Roam. This version is of course quite a bit different from that one, with Lucy Iffla delivering a pretty vocal performance. The section with the piano lead has kind of a late-night vibe that I love. Then we get a track titled “Jolly Good.” You can guess by that title that it’s going to be lighthearted and fun, and indeed it is. There is a playfulness about it, and there is a moment in its first minute that even reminds me of the music from the animated series Family Guy. I love the way this track progresses. There are some wild, sexy moments where the song feels like it is taking place in a bordello in New Orleans, and time is no longer a factor. And it moves on from there, and is totally enjoyable from beginning to end. I love that work on drums toward the end.

When you hear Lucy Iffla sing “I’m In The Mood For Love,” you too will be in the mood. This is a cheerful rendition that seems capable itself of spreading love over the land. Lucy Iffla even includes a bit of scat. That’s followed by “The Monk, The Drunk And Derek The Researcher,” an interesting piece that begins with a beat that seems to announce something serious. But then the horns have this sexy, relaxed, almost drugged vibe, like they are lounging around on a giant bed, surrounded by hookahs. Then the style changes, feeling more put together, ready to go out in the light of day. It starts to feel like not only a particular setting, but a tale taking place there as well. This track goes through several changes, but smoothly, naturally, and it ends up being one of my personal favorites. Then “Squint Your Eyes” features lyrics written by Mace Francis and Lucy Iffla. “Squint your eyes and see the world for what it might be/Now all the mess has left my view.” There is a strong mood to this piece. The album concludes with a totally delightful rendition of Shelton Brooks’ “Some Of These Days” that features some wonderful work on trombone and trumpet.

CD Track List

  1. Casserole For Two
  2. The Pudding March
  3. In My Solitude
  4. Isolation Emancipation
  5. Home On The Range
  6. Jolly Good
  7. I’m In The Mood For Love
  8. The Monk, The Drunk And Derek The Researcher
  9. Squint Your Eyes
  10. Some Of These Days

Isolation Emancipation was released on November 26, 2021.

Saturday, January 22, 2022

Night Crickets: “A Free Society” (2022) CD Review

While Night Crickets is a new band, it is made up of musicians you likely already know – David J (the bass player from Bauhaus and Love And Rockets), Victor DeLorenzo (original drummer of Violent Femmes), and Darwin Meiners. You might know Darwin Meiners from his work on David J’s solo albums such as An Eclipse Of Ships and Vagabond Songs. And before coming together as Night Crickets, these three musicians collaborated on Darwin Meiners’ 2014 release, Souvenir. Night Crickets is a project that came about because of the pandemic, the musicians wanting to create something during the lockdown. And so the tracks on their debut release, A Free Society, were recorded remotely. Joining them on this release are Janet Schiff on cello, keyboards and backing vocals; Malachi DeLorenzo on drums, bass, guitar, keyboards and percussion; Jesse Catalino Montigo on alto saxophone; Julian Shah-Taylor on mellotron; Derek Doss on guitar; and Matt Meixner on keyboards; with spoken word by Marc Warren. This album features all original material, written by the three members of the band.

The disc gets off to a seriously cool start with “Black Leather On The Inside,” with instruments being added one at a time at the beginning, a really nice way of getting everything started. I particularly love that bass work, as a delicious groove is established. And check out that work on strings. The groove is given a chance to work its way into your brain and veins and muscles before the vocals come in, more than a minute into the track, the first lines delivered sort of as spoken word. “The ritual is the formula/Black leather on the inside/New York around the corner.” The line “Life is wearing thin” is repeated toward the end, becoming a strange mantra. What a fantastic opening. That is followed by “Candlestick Park,” an unusual song about the baseball park, which begins with lines about seeing The Beatles perform there in 1966. It also mentions violence on the streets in the area, and Richard Nixon throwing out the first pitch there in 1960 (when he was vice president). This track is oddly, unexpectedly pretty. Then “Amanda’s Mantra” is a delightfully strange tune, it too mentioning some famous real-life people, Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. And actually the lyrics refer to a kiss between those two that apparently never happened, or at least was never photographed, but is instead an artistic manipulation of existing photographs. You’ve likely seen that image online. “She’s writing words of wisdom/For America and the world.” Suddenly a saxophone rises up from this city landscape, which is the perfect touch.

The album’s title track, “A Free Society,” has a catchy rhythm, and some exciting touches on keys. Most of the lyrics are delivered as spoken word, and there is a nod to Star Wars: “visiting from a galaxy far, far away.” This song also mentions the band itself in the line “And the dark watchers, los vigilantes oscuros/Are listening, listening, listening to/Night Crickets.” But the instrumental sections are the most appealing parts for me. That’s followed by “Roman A Clef,” another cool track. This album is just so good, with its own peculiar sound and bent. And as it goes on, it just gets better and better. This song’s first line, “I can tell the real story,” grabs you. “In a roman à clef/Change the names and faces/To keep those lawyers away.” There is something dark and dangerous and compelling here. Then “Soul Wave” has a slower, mesmerizing groove. I love that bass line. The vocal performance here reminds me a bit of some of John Lennon’s solo work at certain moments, such as on these lines: “Call me/Call my name/Tell me anything.”

The group then changes gears with “Little Did I,” which has a strong rhythm, one to get you moving. “I tried to talk, but I couldn’t speak/I tried to smell, and it wouldn’t work/I tried to walk, but I fell back down.” The line about not being able to smell of course brings to mind the pandemic. This is a fun track. That’s followed by “Sloe Song,” which seems to be all about mood. “There’s nowhere to hide you/There’s nowhere to hide.” Then we get “The Unreliable Narrator,” one of my personal favorites. I am on board from the opening moment when the track is introduced by simply speaking its title. And then that rhythm is great, as is the way the lyrics are delivered, as spoken word, but with something of a sneer in the tone. “The unreliable narrator/He has an axe to grind/And a cache of theories/The conspiratorial kind.” This track concludes with the lines, “The rabbit hole, it is so deep/And yet so shallow too/You can’t believe a word he says/So you’re foolish if you do.” Ah, there are so many people we could apply those words to. Who leaps to mind?

As “Down Below” begins, it does indeed feel like we are under the city somewhere, water dripping down near us. A kind of eerie atmosphere is established before the vocals come in. “Here I go/I’m going down below.” And we are all joining him. Then in “Return To The Garden Of Allah,” they tell us to “Take your place amongst the stars,” taking us in a different direction. That’s followed by “Sacred Monster,” which has a dark, delightful vibe, and is another of my favorite tracks. “Sulfate, stardust/Rehab, train wreck/Sacred monster.” And the line “Sinatra’s got nothing on you” makes me smile each time. The album concludes with “I Want My Night Crickets!” Yes, it’s the second song to refer to the band’s name, this time in the title. It is probably the album’s strangest song, a bit chaotic at first. It ends with the sound of crickets (presumably at night).

CD Track List

  1. Black Leather On The Inside
  2. Candlestick Park
  3. Amanda’s Mantra
  4. A Free Society
  5. Roman A Clef
  6. Soul Wave
  7. Little Did I
  8. Sloe Song
  9. The Unreliable Narrator
  10. Down Below
  11. Return To The Garden Of Allah
  12. Sacred Monster
  13. I Want My Night Crickets!

A Free Society is scheduled to be released on CD on January 21, 2022 through Omnivore Recordings. A vinyl release will follow in the summer.

Friday, January 21, 2022

Meat Loaf (1947 – 2022)

I can't believe Meat Loaf is gone. That man was a force. He put on one of the best concerts I ever saw, and that was back when he was a giant. It was 1989 or maybe 1990. He had a bunch of new material, what would later be released as Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell. That was the first set. Then for the second set he played all the stuff we knew and loved. And then he came back and played another set, a shorter set, all 1950s rock and roll tunes. It was fantastic. The whole time he was running around on the stage like a madman, belting out those songs with that incredible voice. So glad I was there for that. That was in Worcester, Massachusetts. Tickets were five dollars. What a time. Then when Bat Out Of Hell: Back Into Hell was released a few years later, I won a copy of it in a raffle at a Rocky Horror Picture Show event at a bar. I actually don't think my number came up. I was drunk and kept yelling out the number on my ticket, and I think the guy just got tired of me and thought, "Let's just give this jackass a CD and shut him up." It worked. 

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

The Left Banke: “Strangers On A Train” (1986/2022) CD Review

The Left Banke, known for the big hit “Walk Away Renée,” broke up in 1969 after releasing only two albums and several singles. They reunited in 1978 and recorded an album’s worth of material, which was not released until 1986 under the title Strangers On A Train (though in the UK it was released as Voices Calling). Now that album is being re-issued, with six bonus tracks that were previously unreleased, and new liner notes by Scott Schinder. Most of the original tracks were written or co-written by Tom Finn, while the bonus material was written or co-written by Michael Brown. As you’d expect, these tracks contain plenty of great harmonies.

The album opens with its title track, “Strangers On A Train,” which has a sweet, easygoing 1970s sound. “Strangers on a train/There’s nothing left to hide/But the love you have inside/You’re waiting to share.” And when it kicks in, the vocals have the sort of energy and sound that Paul McCartney had when he would suddenly tear into a lyric in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the song becomes exciting. Toward the end, the track really takes off and becomes a good jam. I wish that section went on a little longer. That’s followed by “Heartbreaker” (geez, how many artists recorded songs with that title in the 1970s?), this one written by Tom Finn and Steve Martin Caro. It features some nice work on electric guitar and some strong vocal work. “Love is all you want/It’s all you need to get you by/But love can make you cry/And I did for you and I.”

“Lorraine” is a pretty song, featuring some good work on piano and a passionate vocal performance. “Don’t you know that I wonder why/Did we have to say goodbye/When we could have gone on dreaming/Yes, dreaming/Lorraine, Lorraine/I know we’ll make it one day/Maybe Monday/I’ll be there with you.” That’s followed by “Yesterday’s Love,” which also begins as a mellow, pretty number, with some beautiful harmonies. Soon the lyrics are belted out with that delicious raw power. “Who wants yesterday’s wine/Those memories of time we once had/You lost yesterday’s love/And yesterday’s gone away.” This one was written by Tom Finn, Steve Martin Caro and George Cameron. Then “Hold On Tight” begins with rock and roll guitar intro that is part Chuck Berry, and part Beatles’ “Revolution,” and quickly becomes a fun track, with a good summer vibe and energy.

“And One Day” is one of the album’s best songs. It is moving and beautiful, with an excellent vocal performance. These are the song’s opening lines: “And one day/You’ll think of all the things she did/That made you laugh/You lost the way.” This song also features some wonderful work on strings. That’s followed by another of the album’s highlights, “You Say.” “You think/There’s no one here you can talk to/You say/No one’s crying but you.” It feels that way sometimes, doesn’t it? Both of those songs were composed by Tom Finn, Steve Martin Caro and George Cameron.

The lines from “I Can Fly” that stand out for me are “I have no need for truth/Or for lies/To see the light of dawn/In your eyes.” That’s followed by “Only My Opinion,” yet another strong track. “Maybe the sun won’t shine tomorrow/But that doesn’t mean my love will end.” The original album concludes with “Queen Of Paradise,” the only cover on it. It was written by Shade Smith and originally recorded by The Rumour. Both The Rumour and The Left Banke released this song as a single. This one has a definite 1970s pop feel, with disco elements.

Bonus Tracks

This re-issue contains six bonus tracks, recorded in 2001 and 2002, all of which were previously unreleased. The first is “Airborne,” the title now immediately calling to mind the pandemic. But of course that’s not what this is about, though it has the line “Where I can breathe.” This is a strangely beautiful song, complete with strings. “No one wants to understand/I’m climbing up the walls/You must try to see/This place is not for you/Or me anymore/Can’t we just be airborne.” That’s followed by “I Don’t Know,” a song that speaks to me right away, its opening lines being “I don’t know what I’m doing now/I don’t know what it’s all about/I don’t know how it’s going to sound.” This track features an excellent vocal performance supported by some wonderful work by Michael Brown on keys.

“Until The End” also features strings, and has a certain beauty. It was written by Michael Brown and Yvonne Vitale. “Until the end, until the end/I want to hold you until then.” That’s followed by “Buddy Steve (Long Lost Friend),” a wonderfully sad song. Check out these lines: “What is right and what is wrong/When you find that love is gone/Fading years pass with the dawn/And now is the fight of your life.” “Meet Me In The Moonlight” is a beautiful love song with some surprising lyrics: “I cried when the world died/But it’s better leaving it alone/Help me to live my life.” This is one of my favorite tracks. It was written by Michael Brown and Ian Lloyd. The disc then concludes with “High Flyer,” a moving song featuring good work on vocals and keyboards. “High flyer, she must never know/That you always loved her/Even when you cried alone/High flyer, the bells are ringing.”

CD Track List

  1. Strangers On A Train
  2. Heartbreaker
  3. Lorraine
  4. Yesterday’s Love
  5. Hold On Tight
  6. And One Day
  7. You Say
  8. I Can Fly
  9. Only My Opinion
  10. Queen Of Paradise
  11. Airborne
  12. I Don’t Know
  13. Until The End
  14. Buddy Steve (Long Lost Friend)
  15. Meet Me In The Moonlight
  16. High Flyer

This special expanded re-issue of Strangers On A Train is scheduled to be released on February 25, 2022 through Omnivore Recordings.

Sunday, January 16, 2022

Albums Received Week Of January 9-15, 2022


These are the CDs I received the week of January 9-15, 2022:

  • The Rave-Ups: "Tomorrow"
  • Rain Perry: "A White Album"
  • Anders Koppel: "Mulberry Street Symphony"
  • Jackie Bristow: "Outsider"
  • Sarah Borges: "Together Alone"
  • The Waymores: "Stone Sessions"
  • Eliane Amherd: "La Degustation"
  • Eric Brace & Last Train Home: "Everything Will Be"

ViO: “Equanimity: A Futuristic Jazz Tale” (2021) CD Review

ViO is the project of Viktor Haraszti, a saxophone player and composer who was born in Hungary and is currently based in Holland. Equanimity: A Futuristic Jazz Tale, his debut full-length release, features all original material with music written by Viktor Haraszti and lyrics by Lisa Marie Simmons, who joins him on vocals for certain tracks. Also joining Viktor Haraszti on some of these tracks are Dave King on drums, and Marshall Curtly on drums and percussion. Otherwise, Viktor Haraszti plays all the instruments, including tenor saxophone, clarinet, flute, electronic wind instrument, bansuri, and keys, and provides some vocal work as well. The word “equanimity” is an interesting one to contemplate in these stressful days when millions of people seem completely out of their minds, both in our country and around the world. How do we reach such composure, such calmness of mind, such stability, in these crazy days? The music on this album reflects a personal journey in that direction. It is arranged in chapters, like a book, the tracks listed by chapter numbers.

The album opens with a short track simply titled “Intro,” which has a gentle vibe, featuring some moving work on saxophone, a single voice announcing its presence, its hopes, its needs. That’s followed by “Chapter One,” the first track to feature vocals. Here the lyrics are sparse, the vocalist functioning more like a narrator setting the scene. “To survive every new dawn/We need be steady, we need be strong.” And after a moment, she whispers “There’s an ebb,” and then “There’s a flow.” The instruments themselves tell the story, or act it out, the saxophone being the strongest voice or character, with other sounds seeming to pass by. At moments when the power builds, there is an unsettling effect. The track ends with Lisa Marie Simmons whispering, “Everything comes, everything goes.” Dave King plays drums on “Chapter Two.” There is an improvised feeling to this one, as we are introduced to a strange, unfamiliar world. There is an order at its core, but what lies around it feels just a bit unhinged. Then in the second half, a certain calm settles over the situation, and so helps us relax too.

“Chapter Three” eases in, calling to mind the opening moments of “Intro,” But rather than the saxophone immediately coming in, there is the sound coughing, a sound that is rather alarming during the pandemic. Some heavy breathing adds to the odd sense of discomfort, of trouble. We are in a darker land now, an electronic realm. Nearly halfway through, Lisa Marie Simmons comes in on vocals, and this time her presence is more central to the piece, as she describes the troubled times. “Our nature’s storms reminded us/Neglect might be our ruin, time to wake/A virus came, it detonated thus/A fear came here to nest within our hearts/A year came here to rival any past.” Interestingly, the music and her voice put us more at ease. And, even after she has finished her vocal part, the music contains a beauty. But then as the track is concluding, we again hear coughing and labored breathing, for no, the pandemic is far from over, even if there are moments when we are soothed.

“Chapter Four” features some good work by Marshall Curtly on percussion. Lisa Marie Simmons revisits some lines from “Chapter One,” but here expands upon them, giving them more context. “To survive each new dawn/We need be steady, we need be strong.” The lines are delivered as spoken word, as poetry, from a place of wisdom. “Like those branches/Bend with the wind/After calamity advances/Steady and strong because/There’s an ebb, there’s a flow/Everything comes, everything goes.” The lyrics are central to this piece, and in fact there is really no instrumental section to this one; the track ends moments after the lyrics reach their conclusion. This is the final track to feature Lisa Maria Simmons on vocals. There is more of a dance vibe to “Chapter Five,” as if approaching joy, or coaxing it into existence through willpower and movement. This is the last of the tracks to feature Marshall Curtly on percussion. In its final moments, the track’s tone changes, becoming more relaxed.

“Chapter Six” feels uncertain as it begins. It moves tentatively, like looking in on something unfamiliar and considering whether to join it. But soon there is a pretty aspect. Then “Chapter Seven” feels calm, relaxed, and features some vocal work by Viktor Haraszti, but no lyrics. That vocal work is soothing, even uplifting. After a minute and a half, the saxophone comes in, a stronger, more vibrant voice. And everything seems fine. Any uncertainty and fear seem to have faded. The album then concludes with a gentle piece titled “Epilogue,” featuring some wonderful work on saxophone. This track seems to tell us things are going to be all right. It is a track that speaks to us from the other side of trouble, and lets us know we can join it there.

CD Track List

  1. Intro
  2. Chapter One
  3. Chapter Two
  4. Chapter Three
  5. Chapter Four
  6. Chapter Five
  7. Chapter Six
  8. Chapter Seven
  9. Epilogue

Equanimity: A Futuristic Jazz Tale was released on December 12, 2021.

Saturday, January 15, 2022

The Heavyweights Brass Band: “Stir Crazy” (2021) CD Review

As the omicron variant runs rampant through the country, some fear another lockdown might be in the cards. So what could be more suitable than an album titled Stir Crazy? This new album from The Heavyweights Brass Band was recorded in March of 2020, just as everything was beginning to shut down. Remember that? It feels like ten years ago, and yet here we still are. Fortunately, we have groups like The Heavyweights Brass Band to provide some energy and joy to us in these bizarre times. Stir Crazy features mostly original material, composed by three different members of the band, along with a few interesting choices of covers, including “Black Hole Sun.”  The group is made up of John Pittman on trumpet; Paul Metcalfe on saxophone; RJ Satchithananthan on trombone; Tom Richards on tuba, trombone and keys; and Lowell Whitty on drums.  Joel Visentin and Aline Morales join them on organ and triangle respectively. These guys are based in Toronto, but a good deal of their soul resides in New Orleans. If you’re looking for a fun album to raise your spirits, Stir Crazy is just the thing for you.

The album gets off to a great, hopping start with “Sweet Pauly’s Boogaloo,” written by Paul Metcalfe. It has a delicious groove, a familiar and swinging vibe, and features a wonderful lead on organ by Joel Visentin, as well as some seriously energetic work on saxophone. It all works to get us off our seats, and to bring a dance back into our steps. Listening to music like this, it seems completely realistic for people to be dancing as they make their way down the streets. Then we get the first of the album’s three covers, a cool rendition of “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” the song originally recorded by Roberta Flack in the mid-1970s. Just before the two-minute mark, this rendition really starts getting good. That’s when these musicians make this song their own, when the horns get loose, straying from that main theme, and from there, it just gets better and better. The arrangement is by RJ Satchithananthan. They take things in a different direction with the lively dance song “Skank You Very Much.” If you’re feeling stir crazy, this track will undoubtedly help release some tension. It was written by Paul Metcalfe.

As “Manipogo” begins, you get the sense of a large creature waking, stretching, beginning to move, beginning to groove. The horns then call to it, celebrate it. There is a bit of funk to this one, and it soon becomes one of the most interesting and exciting tracks of the album, with a style all its own, somewhat playful in nature. It was written by Paul Metcalfe, and is my personal favorite on this album. That’s followed by “Rehab Intro,” which is just some crowd sounds, with a nice bit of organ playing over that. That’s Joel Visentin again on organ. That is then followed, naturally, by the album’s second cover, Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab,” a song that is a perfect fit for a brass band, the arrangement here by Tom Richards. It’s difficult to keep from singing “They tried to make me go to rehab/But I said, no, no, no.” Is there is something twisted, almost morbid, in the joy of those lines, considering the way Amy Winehouse died? Joel Visentin plays organ on this track too.

“Stir Crazy,” the album’s title track, is totally fun. I especially love the work on drums on this track, a beat to help you shake off any cares or worries that might be plaguing you. And that is only part of the delicious energy of this tune, this track featuring some lively and excellent leads on saxophone and trumpet. This one was written by John Pittman, and it’s all over much too soon. Things then get funky again with “Georgia Pine,” written by Tom Richards. I love when a funky bass line is actually delivered by a tuba. Seriously, how is that not a bass guitar? Tom Richards also plays keyboard on this track. That’s followed by “Manipogo’s Revenge.” Ah yes, the creature is back. It’s interesting that two different members of the group took inspiration from the Manipogo when compositing material for this album. This one is by Tom Richards, and it has a great, loose vibe. Here the creature seems to have left the lake and is stalking the streets, strutting down them, really, in shades and carrying a cane with a hidden blade. Watch out! This is the track to feature Aline Morales on triangle. And yeah, I mentioned that these guys cover Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” on this album, and that’s the track that wraps things up. I never saw Soundgarden in concert, but I did get to see Chris Cornell sing “Wild World” with Cat Stevens once. Anyway, “Black Hole Sun” might seem an odd choice to conclude an album that is largely a lot of fun, but The Heavyweights Brass Band delivers a strong rendition.

CD Track List

  1. Sweet Pauly’s Boogaloo
  2. Feel Like Makin’ Love
  3. Skank You Very Much
  4. Manipogo
  5. Rehab Intro
  6. Rehab
  7. Stir Crazy
  8. Georgia Pine
  9. Manipogo’s Revenge
  10. Black Hole Sun

Stir Crazy was released on November 5, 2021.