WOODENHEAD

A four piece of drums, bass, keys and guitar. There are no horn players in this band? Well this recording has plenty of them as they get some help from this trio who call themselves TROMBONES FROM HELL. They are blasting all over this record which is not my thing at all. It would actually be nice to check out some of their other records that have no horns on them. A lot of people say they play this type of southern jazz fusion and usually name check the DIXIE DREGS. When listening to this in the past I kept thinking, man this band must have played at Mardi Gras every year it was on, playing on the street or in a bar, especially with the added horns here I got that feeling.

Surprisingly my favourite tracks are right in the middle, with my top two being tracks five and six while my next two favs are tracks four and seven. Go figure. Close to an hour of music over ten tracks. The music is challenging yet melodic, and on the jazzy side.

I read somewhere that the band refer to themselves as this "Massive eclectic rock jazz funk band that is all instrumental with original compositions" Good album despite the horns. Where's Mangelsdorff?

Instrumental jazz-rock is, perhaps, something of a niche genre in progressive rock. A style that most certainly has it's fans, but also a style and direction that many find to be too challenging and not all that enjoyable. For me, this live album by Woodenhead strikes me as the instrumental jazz-rock album that those that normally do not like this type of music would have a good chance of enjoying, as well as being something of a required purchase for those who know and treasure this kind of music in the first place. A strong and often brilliant and enjoyable live album by a tight and experienced band. In a just world, they should get booking requests from jazz festivals as well as progressive rock festivals worldwide due to the talents they showcase on this album. One of the best and most enjoyable live albums I've heard in quite a bit, this one.