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If You Can’t Dazzle Them With Your Brilliance, Then Baffle Them With Your Blisluth Pt. Two

Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber

Label: Avant Groid Musica
Released: 2025
Views: 234

Tracks

Chicken Scratching Dré Shows SaxTone the Way; Hollering Hoodoo Ghosts Conduction #1; Spiritualizing; Black Cow; Detroit Blisluth Blues Conduction; Frankenstank; Back Pain; Someone To Love You; Slop Jar Boogie Oogie Oogie Blues; Inna Shelley Over Detroit; Hollering Hoodoo Ghosts Conduction #2; Summertime at Paula’s Barn; Shelley & Smoota Converse … Smoota Has the Last Word; GAPLess Paula’s Barn CHoP CHoPs.

Personnel

Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber

band / ensemble / orchestra

Shelley Nicole

vocals

Bruce Mack

vocals

Leon Gruenbaum

keyboards

André Lassalle

guitar

Dave Smith

trombone

Chris Eddelton

drums

Paula Marcus

percussion

Jared Michael Nickerson

bass, electric

Additional Personnel / Information

Bruce Mack: Vocals, Synthesizer, Conduction; Leon Gruenbaum: Keyboards, Samchillian, Talk Box; Anthony “SaxTone” Arrington: Alto Sax; V. Jeffrey Smith: Saxophones (Soprano, Tenor, Baritone), Electric Guitar, Vocals; Dave “Smoota” Smith: Trombone; Chris Eddleton: Trap Drums; Paula Marcus: Congas; Jared Michael Nickerson: Electric Bubble Bass.

Album Description

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of If You Can’t Dazzle Them With Your Brilliance, Then Baffle Them With Your Blisluth (2005), —which featured live performances from Bordeaux, FR, San Sebastián, SP, and NYC—we present Part Two, featuring live performances from Detroit, MI, and Lebanon, OH. (Sweetened by Inna Most and V. Jeffrey Smith) Part Two also features the Burnt Sugar Arkestra recording debuts of Shelley Nicole, Dave “Smoota” Smith, Paula Marcus, and Anthony “SaxTone” Arrington along with a from-the-mountain-top holler of “thank you” to Mr. Larry Mizell ! A Few Tastee Freeze Reviews (The Wire/DownBeat/WWOZ/Burning Ambulance/Dusty Groove America/Downtown Music Gallery) Have Appeared … The brainchild of the late writer/guitarist/ conductor Greg Tate and bassist Jared Michael Nickerson, Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber have always been one of the more adventurous bands in contemporary Black music. Consisting of a rotating line-up of stellar (and experimental) players including keyboardist Bruce Mack, guitarist Vernon Reid and trumpeter Flip Barnes, the ensemble have endured for... 26 years. Recorded live in a verity of cities in 2022, If You Can't Dazzle Them With Your Brilliance, Then Baffle Them With Your Blisluth Pt2 serves as the sequel to an album released 20 years ago. The point of this is unclear - but thankfully, unlike most sequels, this one doesn't suck. "The world's going crazy, the least you can do is dance", yells vocalist Shelley Nicole on "Frankenstank", her words serving as the disc's mission statement. The Tate-composed song begins with a heavy four on the floor boom that eventually meets up with stunning solos from electric guitarist Ben Tyree and V. Jeffrey Smith (formerly of The Family Stand) on saxophone. Unafraid of crossing borders and mixing genres, Burnt Sugar are as down with blaxploitation soundtracks (as demonstrated by "Chicken Scratching Dre Shows SaxTone The Way") as they are with Steely Dan (their standout cover of "Black Cow" invokes both gritty blues bar vocalizing nights and Hammond organ Baptist church Sunday mornings). Indeed, the group refuse to do anything straight-up, as we hear on "Someone To Love You", a slow jam love joint that opens with a smooth trumpet solo from Barnes before vocalist Shelley Nicole steps to the mic. Singing soulfully and sweet as though conjuring the spirit of Nancy Wilson, midway through there's a jazzy interlude that enhances, rather than disrupts, proceedings. Not all bands sound this great when you experience them live, but Burnt Sugar have travelled many miles together in more than two decades, and the electric, eclectic grooves heard on this disc come from the musicians' familiarity and respect for one another. On the road and on stage wherever they be, the joint be jumping.” ~ Michael A Gonzales/The WIRE “A collective project initiated by the late writer and musician Gregory “Ironman” Tate and guitarist Vernon Reid, inspired by titans like George Clinton, Sun Ra, Fela Kuti and the late Butch Morris, Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber has thrived for 20 years as a free-groove party band that takes funky rhythms, soulful solos, improvised compositions and a harmolodic approach to the whole affair as its birthright. As well it should. IYCDTWYB,TBTWYB Pt. 2 shouts back to a 20-year-old founding document, Pt. 1, with live tracks and studio sessions from 2024. Though the players have changed over the years, Burnt Sugar has always been a loose amalgam, characterized by a throbbing essence and forward bent. It retains that profile here. Highlights include Shelley Nicole’s bluesy singing and offhand talking, sax solos by Anthony Arrington, a turn by trumpeter Flip Barnes, electric guitar from André Lassalle, electronics by Leon Gruenbaum and others. These emerge from and are mixed into medium-tempo vamps founded on bubble-bass lines and solid backbeats, punctuated by riffing horns, comping keyboards and guitars and background chorales. The two “Hollering Hoodoo Ghosts” conductions — employing Butch Morris’ real-time arranging practice — have counterpoint developing with immediacy. “Spiritualizing” is an ambient interlude, fitting for the program, as are the band’s only slightly ironic covers of earworms by Steely Dan (“Black Cow”) and A Taste of Honey (“Boogie Oogie Oogie”). BS nods to its transporting previous release, Angels Over Oakanda: tracks like “Frankenstank” compel dancing, sans shame, hesitation or bafflement. So, success!” ~ Howard Mandel/DownBeat “One of things that I really like about BSAC is that you can dance to the music yet it is also deep head thinking music and great stoner music and always interesting in terms of beats, arrangement, and production. This one has all that and sometimes is so in the future that it is beyond the culture currently. I played Black Cow on the radio last night. That song has deep emotional meaning for me in the original and in your version too. Thanks for putting it on there. "So outrageous ..." - David Kunian/WWOZ New Orleans “Burnt Sugar’s double live opus If You Can’t Dazzle Them With Your Brilliance Then Baffle Them With Your Blisluth, first released on two CD-Rs in 2005 and now available on Bandcamp, documents key portions of several gigs from spring and summer 2004, including one — from the Vision Festival, the group’s first appearance there — that I was actually present for. Dubbed “Himatsuri (Fire Festival)” on disc, it’s a roughly 45-minute, slowly evolving performance that balances horns, strings, and some unearthly vocalizing, and the lineup was absolutely stacked, including Matana Roberts on alto sax, Mazz Swift on violin, and Shahzad Ismaily on banjo and bass. It was easily the most exciting thing I saw at the VF that year. Well, now they’ve released a second volume, which features performances recorded in Detroit and Ohio in 2022, plus some studio additions from 2024. Over the years, Burnt Sugar transformed from a genreless improvising ensemble to a shit-hot funk-rock band with a wild streak. They did shows where they tackled the music of other artists, albeit never becoming a mere “cover band”, and there are versions of Steely Dan’s “Black Cow” and the Ohio Players’ “Pain” (here retitled “Back Pain”, because they’re playing it backwards) that couldn’t be anyone but Burnt Sugar. But it’s the original conduction/composition/improvisations here that prove that even in the absence of founder Greg Tate (bassist Jared Michael Nickerson is leading things now), they still sound like no one else.” - Phil Freeman/Burning Ambulance “It's been 20 years since the first volume with the same title from the Burnt Sugar Arkestra – and this set is a great illustration of just how much the groundbreaking group have evolved! If anything, they're even more freewheeling from a musical perspective – embracing jazz and funk of many cultures, and wrapping them together as one very heady whole – sometimes on very open, loose tracks – other times on tight, soulful tunes that balance out nicely over the course of the set! The wonderful Shelley Nicole is on vocals, a singer with a great range who can really handle all sorts of different material – and four of the tracks on the set are directed by the legendary Vernon Reid, who's always a welcome presence. Titles include "Hollering Hoodoo Ghosts Conduction #1", "Summertime At Paula's Barn", "Inna Shelley Over Detroit", "Back Pain", "Someone To Love You", "Detroit Blisluth Blues Condition", "Spiritualizing", and a surprising remake of Steely Dan's "Black Cow.” © 1996-2025, Dusty Groove, Inc./Chicago IL BURNT SUGAR with JARED MICHAEL NICKERSON / BRUCE MACK / LEON GRUENBAUM / ANDRE LASSALLE / SHELLEY NICOLE / MARQUE GILMORE / BEN TYREE / LEWIS BARNES / et al - If You Can’t Dazzle Them with Your Brilliance, Then Baffle Them with Your Blisluth - Part 2 (Avant Groid Musica; USA) Collective members for this disc feature: Jared Michael Nickerson on electric bubble bass, Andre Lassalle & Ben Tyree on electric guitars, Shelley Nicole & Bruce Mack on vocals, Leon Gruenbaum on keyboards, JS Williams & Lewis “Flip” Barnes on trumpets, Anthony “SaxTone” Arrington & V. Jeffrey Smith on saxes, Dave Smith on trombone, Paula Marcus, Chris Eddleton & Marque Gilmore on drums & percussion. “It’s been four years since the last great disc by Burnt Sugar has been released. During that time, founding member & leader Greg Tate has sadly passed away. The band has continued with Jared Michael Nickerson now providing direction, doing occasional gigs as well as doing tributes to certain influential musicians/artists/bands (James Brown, Prince, Sun Ra, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis…!). According to the liner notes, this is ‘Part 2’ to the first ‘If You Can’t Dazzle them with Your Brillance…” and like the first part, this is a series of live recordings from different places. When this disc begins, we hear Mr. Nickerson’s bubbling el bass providing a great effervescent with layers of sly chicken scratch guitar, sizzling reeds & brass over a swell slamming beat! “Hey Hey Hey” is repeated over and over as the troops get up to dance along, nod their heads and smile underneath their fancy lids (hats). This has a great opening riff so we can all forget about the BS surrounding us and groove together. Midway through this piece, the tempo increases to a furious pace and the group gets freer and more intense. One of the bands that Burnt Sugar has covered live is 70’s staples Steely Dan, doing “Black Cow” from their ‘Aja’ album. Although I am a longtime Steely Dan fan, I found their two albums to be a bit too slick for my tastes. I do dig this version of “Black Cow” which is pretty funky and features soulful vocals (by Shelley Nicole), some greasy organ, Davis Sanborn-like sax and a slamming groove. “Detroit Blisluth Blues Conduction” has a Funkadelic-like groove/melody over another hot, funky rhythm team. Yeah! “Frankenstank” was written by former leader Greg Tate and it is a gem with some righteous vocals, lead & chorus. Burnt Sugar always provides the best of many worlds, with mucho horns (and short inspired solos), wailing guitars and keyboards, funky booty-kicking beats and a party atmosphere that keep your tush and mind ever-engaged. This is almost 80 minutes long and covers a good deal of infectious and thoughtful music. If you are going to a party, bring this disc along so you can get everyone up dancing and grooving. Otherwise you can just dance by yourself or with your roommates/partners at home. Do you dig the taste of Burnt Sugar?!? I certainly do!” - MC-Bruce Lee /Downtown Music Gallery/NYC

Album uploaded by Ludovico Granvassu