 Stanton Moore III Take a space age
sounding
name like Galactic, mix in musical influences from Mardi Gras Indians
and Professor Longhair, add some great honest sounding organic jazz
tunes and you gain some insight into the music of drummer Stanton
Moore and the influences that infuse his tunes.
Moore combines a career
as the drummer for Galactic with a burgeoning solo career that just
saw him release his third project under his own name. The CD is
simply titled
Stanton
Moore III. At the time of our conversation
Moore was also working with Galactic on a new project.
“On this record,
(Stanton
Moore III) I wanted to get back to recording with all of the
members playing at one time, whereas with Galactic’s recent
recordings and especially with the one we are doing now, it is very
production oriented. It has a lot of overdubs and loops,” says
Moore
With III Moore
returns to
his musical roots. “On the first (solo) record it was pretty well
all organic and I wanted to get back to a little bit of that,” he
says.
 Stanton Moore The
rhythm section is particularly noticeable on songs such as “Licorice”
and “Big ‘Uns Get the Ball Rolling”. Robert Walter (Hammond B3
organ) and guitarist Will Bernard accompany Moore on III. Walter
(Robert Walter’s 20th Congress and the Greyboy Allstars)
is phenomenal throughout the album and particularly noticeable on the
funkadelic opening track, “Poison Pushy”. Bernard’s note bending
and fretboard workout shine as he lays down some deep grooves for
“Big ‘Uns Get the Ball Rolling”. On this track, Moore puts his
tom toms, snares and Bosphorus crash cymbals through a vigorous
workout during his drum solo.
A great call and
response
occurs between Walter’s organ and Moore’s Gretsch drum kit during
“(Don’t Be Comin’ With No) Weak Sauce”. The 2003 Northwest Jazz
Instrumentalist of the Year Skerik (tenor sax) and Mark Mullins
(trombone) blow some sweet notes on “Chilcock”. The former
Seattle native now living in New York City, Skerik is best known for
his work with Syncopated Taint Septet and Tuatura, while Mullins has
worked with Harry Connick, Jr. and Tori Amos.
Moore co-produced the
album with Mike Napolitano. “I like working with him
because I trust him to get good tones. He gets tones that are not too
pristine or too clean. He knows how to get good sound but it still
sounds raw and organic. That is what I was looking for and that’s
what he brings to the table,” says Moore. “Sometimes you question
yourself throughout the whole process, but with Mike it is very easy
because you know that he is going to get everything sounding good and
it is actually going to make it to the hard drive,“ Moore says
laughing.
Moore describes “Water
From An Ancient Well” as “a very moving song. I am happy with
all the tunes on the record but I really like that one in
particular.” The duo of Mullins and Skerik takes you to the streets
of New Orleans, both before and after Katrina. The song is a beautiful
piece that laments the many tragic stories following the storm and
draws attention to, as Moore says, “the sadness within that song
(that reflects) what is going on with New Orleans right now. It is a
beautiful city but there is a lot of pain and a lot of sadness going
on right now. The tune refers to the levees breaching and it was
something that was waiting to happen for a long time. To me that song
seems very relevant.”
Relevancy is important
to
Moore. He is not shy about saying that, in his opinion, the current
administration has not done the kind of job that should be
expected of them in providing relief to the New Orleans
area. He also realizes that his stature as a recording artist and
performer give him a platform to share his views, an
opportunity not enjoyed by many. “It is a balancing act for me. For
one thing, this is something that we have discussed between ourselves.
On one hand we feel like we have an obligation to use any platform
that we have to try and shed light on things. At the same time we
have to be careful because we feel that our audience comes to us to
escape. The last thing our audience wants to do is come to our shows
to listen to our music and be preached at or have us come off
sounding like we are standing on a soapbox. We have to be somewhat
careful with that so we try to get involved as much as we can playing
for benefits and causes that we stand behind without coming off as
too preachy to our audience.”
In the music that he
records and performs, Moore borrows from the rhythms of New Orleans’
Mardi Gras Indians. The original rhythms have been incorporated into
Moore’s drumming as the beats roll off his Dunnett Titanium and
Cravioto snares. Moore provided me with a quick history lesson,
noting that the Mardi Gras Indians really weren’t Native
Americans but had their roots in Africa. During the period when
slavery was prevalent they would perform their music in New Orleans’
Congo Square. The African rhythms became fused with European
instruments and over time those same rhythms started being played on
bass and snare drums. “It is a lot of what makes New Orleans’
drumming and music unique,” says Moore.
Although it may bring a
smile to readers’ faces today, Moore is not the first drummer to
admit he got his start early in life playing his mother’s pots,
pans and Tupperware containers. For as long as he can remember he
aspired to be a drummer. Stir in the influences
of
the music from the Mardi Gras parade which Moore started attending
when he was just eight months old, combined with exposure to some
great New Orleans musicians such as Dr John and Professor Longhair,
and you have the musical palette of Stanton Moore.
Unless you have been
living on another planet you will be aware that New Orleans has been
rebuilding since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in the fall of
2005. I posed the question to Moore whether or not he sees himself as
part of a new wave of musicians and music originating from the
Crescent City. He was reluctant to wear that mantle and instead opted
for a more subtle perspective: “If people perceive us as being part
of a new wave, then that’s cool.” Moore is grateful that
while continuing to live in New Orleans he and his bandmates are
still able to find venues where they can perform. “We have all been able to
make a living playing instrumental music with a number of
conglomerations and a number of different bands. I think that we are
fortunate to have the opportunity to make improvisational
instrumental music and make a living at it.”
Some venues were lost as
a result of the storm and subsequent flooding. “Fortunately a lot
of the main places that we played before the storm are (still) there.
The Maple Leaf and the D.B.A. (are still here). There are actually
some new places such as the Chickie Wha Wha that was about to be
opened when the storm hit. There are still a lot of gigs and we are
still playing a lot. There are a few less gigs to play but there are
also a few less musicians (in New Orleans) to play them. It’s not
an ideal situation no matter how you slice it but the places we have
played for years are still around, so that’s good,” says Moore.
When you listen to
Stanton
Moore III like me you will find it difficult to
imagine a time when Stanton Moore won’t be in demand.
[Editor's note:
Stanton
Moore III was recorded in
historic Preservation Hall when New Orleans was still reeling from the
tragidy of the storm and the relief failures. This recording is one of
the first flowers to sprout from the ashes. Moore stated in the liner
notes, “I wanted to do something in Preservation Hall because of
the sound in the room and the amazing vibe there. After Katrina, they
weren’t having music and were waiting to reopen, so I saw that as an
awesome and rare opportunity to spend a few days in there with a remote
recording setup and make a record.”]
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Friday, 09 January 2009
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