Click here to read my review of the jazz-funk drummer's latest solo album, as published in Relix mag. Or see the full text below.
Galactic drummer Stanton Moore achieves an appealing synchronicity with organist Robert Walter and guitarist Will Bernard for their third appearance together on a Moore-led album.
Groove Alchemy, also the title of a related instructional book and DVD, is all about the roots of funk drumming. Moore's hometown is writ large on many tracks, particularly Shiftless," with its percolating street-beat rhythms and zippy melodies, and Neeps and Tatties," which connects the dots between Meters drummer Zigaboo Modeliste and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin.
Walter's hard-grooving Pot Licker" nods to James Brown's skins men Clyde Stubblefield and Jabo Starks. And the set closes on a laidback, oddly affecting reading of the George Jones hit He Stopped Loving Her Today," replete with twangy slide guitar and churchy organ.