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Robert Randolph and the Family Band: Live at the Wetlands
Robert Randolph and the Family Band recorded this live CD during the emotional final weeks of the legendary New York City venue the Wetlands Preserve before its closing in early September 2001. The Wetlands was the premier launching ground of many now-famous bands, including the Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, and Phish, who all played their first NYC gigs there. In particular, the Wetlands acquired a reputation as a venue particularly accommodating to fans of the jam-band genre, not only because of its habit of booking bands who fall into that classification but also because of its diverse array of information on social justice, environmental causes, and grassroots political organizations to which many fans of the genre gravitate. Stalwart hippie scene supporters visiting the club on the night of August 23, 2001 that were previously unaware of Robert Randolph no doubt quickly caught the groove and left the club after the show professing belief in a new musical verse added to their jam-band Bible. Religious analogies are especially apt in the case of Robert Randolph and the Family Band. The source of their inspiration and their musical grounding comes from their upbringing in the Pentecostal church and its tradition of what has come to be known as sacred steel. This is the use of the pedal steel guitar as the primary vehicle/soloist in church music, a concept stemming from the inability of many poor churches to afford the more expected pipe organ to provide music for the congregation. Randolph grew up attending just such a church, and from a young age, he exhibited an interest in and a profound natural ability to play the pedal steel guitar. The twist is that when Randolph was older, he was exposed to the blues. Claiming Stevie Ray Vaughan as his main influence, he formed the Family Band to fuse the styles of his pedal-steel based church music with traditional blues. The result is as if Duane Allman was playing slide guitar with James Browns church band from the Blues Brothers, but all filtered through a jam-band lens. The musical similarities to the Allman Brothers Band cannot be overstated; for instance, on The March, Randolphs 13-string pedal steel licks and soloing style approximate that bands bluesy Southern jams to a tee. Providing support, texture, and rhythm are Hammond organist John Ginty and Randolph cousins Danyel Morgan on bass guitar and vocals and Marcus Randolph on drums. Together they take the crowd through very good but fairly standard jam band structures such as Teds Jam and Tears of Joy, both jubilant instrumentals that follow and build the jam to a crescendo, then hold the music at its emotional peak for several measures before driving the audience into a frenzy by exploding past the crescendo into a fast-paced continuation of the original jam. Randolph is an excellent soloist, but much of the music is simply a vehicle for his melodic and energetic playing. Indeed, what keeps his playing from truly elevating the listener to a higher plane is the tired and overly familiar blues riffs and song structures in which he envelops the jams. Pressing My Way is a slow gospel jam very familiar to your standard blues song. Randolphs gospel lyrics and Morgans high dramatic vocal recitations of the same lyric repeatedly are just typical clichd blues call-and-response techniques. The old Slim Harpo blues chestnut Shake Your Hips is simply used as a six-minute way to conduct band introductions. (Randolph introduces and talks about another band member and then that individual shows off for several measures on his instrument.) It has all been done before. Even though the structures and lyrics are familiar and clichd, the band succeeds in introducing their sacred steel church music into a jam-band setting and crowd. Fans of the genre and even just fans of great guitar soloists will love this record but no doubt would love even more the experience of worshipping at Robert Randolph and the Family Bands church service in person.
This album can be purchased at Insound, Amazon, and CD Universe LEFT OFF THE DIAL's Robert Randolph page About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
