Is the Half-Gallon glass half full or half empty? Or is it half and half? I would hazard to guess that the glass is bottomless. It would have to be to contain all ingredients thatThe Dukes of Jazzardpour in. Recorded live in November ’99 at the famousBoiler Roomin New Orleans, The Dukes of Jazzard dump a whole pot full of musical goodies into the cauldron to make a Half-Gallon Nut. Blending soul, heavy funk, jazz, rock, hip hop into a style that gravitates between down tempo acid jazz and blistering funk, The Dukes of Jazzard are an amalgam ofDJ LogicmeetsLiving Colourmeets NOLA’s ownGalatic.

From a DJ scratching to rock guitar texturing to a funkafied well of drums and percussion, songs like “Latin Wiff”, “G-Spot”, “Heavy Sounds” and “Body Smoke” gouge a deep groove. And while the funk works to carve a path, plenty of stellar trumpet and sax explorations bridge the fusion gap.

The all mighty Dukes achieve Jamband status on lengthy improvisational workouts such as the opening cut “Tuco Raminirez" and the sixteen-minute freeform experiment that spans “Tube 001” and “Tube 002”. The latter excursion finds the band at their most comfortable as they explore different thematic landscapes, sounding at times like a whacked, jazzed out version ofThe Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Though the Dukes of Jazzard are still developing their own voice, Half-Gallon Nut is a solid testament to an ambitious band on the rise that will appeal to anyone with an appetite for the down and dirty New Orleans sound.

Personnel:

Longwud Camballa (scratches) / Bob Niggler (bass) / Scott Lightsey (drums) / Mobutu (guitar) / Crump (sax) / Dr. Snodgrass (percussion) / Jeff Cray (trumpet)

Style: Fringes of Jazz
Published: August 01, 2000

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