Customer Reviews

Creole Moon

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was attracted to this title by the Amazon review that called it the best blues CD of the year. I've been listening to Dr. John for what? 30 years? Maybe more... I'd never really thought of him as a blues artist, per se, but obviously, he's comfortable within that idiom. I have always considered him as a combination of many influences, including jazz, blues, rock, R&B and all things Cajun. It's the way he amalgamates these influences yet keeps his own distinct personality that has kept me a fan. This disc does not disappoint. Many songs on it are readily recognizable as being Dr. John, but I think we are witnessing a maturing of his sound. The band is excellent, as is the recording quality. Makes me feel like breaking into the chorus of "Iko, Iko".

Dr. John swaggers in with `Creole Moon,' an album of all new material, something the good doctor has avoided in almost a decade. The result is a unique brand of `fonk,' with a little gris-gris and gumbo to keep the die-hard fans intoxicated. With The Lower 9-11 helping out, Dr. John completely strangles our idea of blues, funk, and boogie woogie. He is backed on certain tracks by David `Fathead' Newman on saxophone, Sonny Landreth on slide guitar, and a host of others. "You Swore' is the opening cut, that is so `skank' it hurts your head just to groove along. `Creole Moon,' the title cut, transports the listener to the Bayou, during the times of Marie Laveau and Baron Samedi. `Bruha Bembe' is a sweet and lowdown love song that moves along nicely. On `Imitation of Love,' Dr. John turns the tables on a relationship, and slowly lets his lover down. This is an amazing mix of talent, desire, and `personabalized' music. A must have for any Dr. John fan, casual blues, fonk, or jaunty listener. Dr. John truly earns his doctorate in the blues.

A complete scorcher of an recording. If you like the Doctor you will LOVE this one but it has also brought him some new fans too.
My friends love this recording.
The grooves are varied and I even caught a whiff of Hugh Masakela/South African jazz groove on the title track.
Raunchy, romantic, wicked and FUN!!!

Some of Dr. John's more recent albums, such as "Anutha Zone," have just not been up to his usual standard. This gets back into the N'Awlins grooves that just roll through his arteries. All of the influences on NOLA's music find a place here and it just makes you want to head down to the Crescent City and dance with the Mardi Gras Indians. Dr. John conjured up some solid sounds here. This is all cake.

I have two copies of this, one for the car, one for home so it won't be too far from my ears. The more I listen to it, the more I love it. I saw the Doctor perform most of the cuts on this CD back in November and can't wait to see him again in February! The music, like the lyrics, just seem to wrap around your soul and spirit. Creole Moon is soothing, funky, moving and hypnotic all in one. Food for Thot has some of the typical Dr. John lyrics that cause you to think and laugh at the same time. I'm loving the additions of Charlie Miller, Sonny Landreth and Michael Doucet.
I can't help it, I want more!!! I wish it were a double CD!

This well-crafted, wide-ranging set of 14 tracks clocks in just under one hour and eight minutes. Mac (Dr. John) Rebennack wrote or co-wrote all the songs, including four co-authored with Doc Pomus. Funk and second line rhythms are essential to the CD but, rather than being in front of the mix as in Dr. John's 'Gumbo' and 'In The Right Place' releases, they contribute to the groove that pulls together the music's other influences. The varied additions to 'Creole Moon' include sax (David 'Fathead' Newman), Cajun fiddle (Michael Doucet), slide guitar, flute as well as Afro-Cuban and Latin percussion. You can listen to this release casually or listen more deeply for the intertwined grooves and cross rhythms. 'Georgianna' is a Cajun ballad; "Litenin'" is Latin dance. If you get a chance, see Dr. John and the Lower 9-11 at one of their couple of hundred shows a year; they are extremely worth catching in person.

Dr. John Is Good. This album isn't on the same level as his GRIS-GRIS, THE NIGHT TRIPPER. But it's Dr. John. It growls. It wails. It sweats, and moves. If you're into the dirtiest slow night moaning river blues, you want CREOLE MOON.

The Good Doctor has the cure for Overproducitis, an ailment affecting so much music today. Backed by his outstandingly tight band (the oddly named "Lower 9-11") he strikes gold with this sweetly funky, witty, black-magical collection of N'Awlins moods and characters, and diverse musical influences. While the production is nothing less than perfect, "Creole Moon" also sounds as spontaneous and enthusiatic as a live performance. Every song is a winner, and these are some highlights:

"You Swore" - An intro reminiscent of Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" guaranteed to get your toes tapping, and (as another reviewer put it perfectly) "backtalkin' babes" who "do what I wanna do".

"Food for Thought" - Fantastic wordplay, with bandmates David Barrard and Herman Ernest shouting "I like it!" and other approving noises. Second best song on the album.

"Holdin' Pattern" - Great violin solo by Michael Doucet of Beausoleil Cajun fame. He plays with such tenderness that he tugs at your emotions even when backed by a funky groove. This is the Doctor's advice to "you young sprouts".

"Bruha Bembe" - This features a Marie Leveau-like "conjure woman" who uses gris-gris to cast spells of love down on the bayoo, "all bayoo self". The backup girls sing a magical "yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah". This is spooky and loads of fun - best song on the album, maybe the very best the Doctor has ever recorded.

"Imitation of Love" - A straight-ahead blues ballad, co-written by Doc Pomus, in which a man confronts his woman with his unwillingness to continue the facade they have made of their relationship. Nicely and sincerely delivered.

"Creole Moon" - As the Good Doctor himself says in the CD notes, this is "window-foggin' night music made specifically for romantic manoeuvres"

"Monkey and Baboon" - If not for the repeated use of the MF word, this would be a great story for children (of all ages), featuring Brer Rabbit-type characters.

"Queen of Cold" - What a hot trumpet solo by Kevin Louis!

In addition to the first-class music, this CD features fantastic cover paintings of legendary N'Awlins voodoo characters Dr. John (the Good Doctor's namesake) and Marie Leveau (with rooster prepared for slaughter). It also includes a colorful and always interesting series of notes by the Doctor himself about the music and the local history that inspires it.

If you like Dr.John, you will like this! My favorites are "the Monkey & the Baboon, and " food for thot". If you notice you will hear the brilliant slide guitar of Sonny Landreth on "The Monkey" and "Take what I can get"
p.s. If you are not familiar with the New Orleans patios, you may mistake the lyrics to "Monkey & Baboon" The Dr. does NOT use the "MF word"! The lyric is actually a "bad mutha fo ya"
I guess you have to live here.

Dr. John understands every note he plays and sings, backing up expert vocals and musicianship with brilliant scholarship. This is solid Grammy material, from the moody title track, to the backtalking babes on You Swore, to the heartfelt soul of Georgeanna, to the hyperkinetic Lightenin. I keep it in the car, crank up the CD player to 10, and cruise along in a stone funky groove.