Take piano from cool jazz cat Joe Alterman and mix it with beats, bass, samples, and loops from Mocean Worker in a tribute to a late jazz and soul legend, Les McCann, and you get a downright groovy record – Keep the Line Open.
Starting with McCann’s high-pitched, hysterical laugh on “I Love It!, I Love It!, I Love It!,” Alterman (who counted McCann as a mentor and friend) and Worker have a blast right away, zipping along city streets (Are those traffic and train samples I hear?) with the windows down and at least three pretty ladies in the back seat. Worker’s bass line on “Yay Yay Yay” is designed to make you strut, and Alterman’s piano is designed to make you dress sharp for the evening.
On “Burnin’ Coal,” McCann tells a story of how he paid an announcer fifty bucks to introduce him with grandeur at an early gig in California, and then Alterman and Worker slide into a sweet groove complete with samples of ladies cheering, clapping, and stomping in the background. “Never have I seen a tuning fork ever,” says McCann as he talks with Alterman on learning how to play on and out of tune piano. “I never knew the difference,” he says, and then “Gimme Some Skin” breaks open with one of the happiest grooves on the record (and that’s saying a lot, considering the whole album is a happy delight) as Alterman rips on his electric piano.
“Circus Going Backwards” is a smoky, mysterious number. How can it not be with a title like that? “Get This to the People” could’ve been a hip hop jam in the golden era of 1990s rap (and still could be – someone needs to get on this). “Moses Gonzales” is so smooth that you could roll marbles across it in a straight line. “Lemme Tell You Somethin'” thumps and bumps in all the right spots.
The album closes with “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly / Les Has the Last Word” (as he should) – a great track of simple honkytonk piano from Alterman and a recording of McCann encouraging him (and us) to continue learning and growing.
It’s a slick record. Don’t let it slide by you.
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Kevin at Calabro Music Media!]
