Big
Rude Jake & The Jump City Crusaders - Live & Out Loud
2012, Big Rude Records
Big Rude Jake was on the fast
track. He had moved from Toronto to New
York City, and self-titled album was on a major American label. As so often happens, the label didn’t live up
to its end of the bargain. The year was
2000. Jake went on the release Live
Faust, Die Jung, but a car accident sidelined him from touring. Jake dropped out of the music scene for a
time, returning eventually under a pseudonym as he fully explored his love for
the fingerpicking style used in Ragtime music.
It wasn’t long before Big Rude Jake was back as himself, however. Last fall, Jake released Live & Out Loud, his sixth album, with The Jump City
Crusaders. It was a shot across the bow
to a music industry that had grown tired with formula and repetition.
Live
& Out Loud opens with "Steppin' Out Under
The Moon", a hard-edged, talk/sing monologue with a killer chorus. This is
classic Jake, supplemented by a lethal horn section with ill intentions.
The solos in the breakdown are intense and vibrant, and Jake's voice is as enigmatic
as ever. "Preacher's Got. A Brother" is a fun tune about the
libidinous desires a preacher instills in his female parishioners, and about
the preacher's brother who isn't cut from the same cloth. Jake sells the story
for all he's worth, and The Jump City Crusaders surround the storyteller with
an arrangement that's absolutely electric. Jake and company keep then
energy high on "Avenue Blue", even with a more traditional Boogie
Jazz vocal style.
"I'm Shakin'" walks the
fine line between early rock and roll and Louis Primary style Vegas jazz. The
transformation continues with "Walking Blues (Walk Right In)", a not
so subtle bit of innuendo and rhyme set to a smoking small ensemble jazz
arrangement. Big Rude Jake dusts off "Lilly Christine" in a rendition
as needful and sharp as the original. "Blue Pariah" is a galloping
bit of fun, with Jake and his posse barreling headlong into delicious blues
inflected rock and roll.
The band takes a breather while Jake
croons "The Ladies Man", telling the tale of a romantic drifter. This
is one of the mellower moments on the album. This is a nice moment, and Jake
maintains the atmosphere with a viciously reserved mambo in the form of
"Mambo Cafe", before throwing down with the raucous pace of "The
Jelly Song". Big Rude Jake closes Live & Out Loud with “Magpie", delivering the fan favorite
with style and panache. The recording includes an entertaining intro that
explains how the song came to be.
The music world is full of
influencers and sound-a-likes. The true
originals are a rare commodity. Big Rude
Jake is just such a human being. Live & Out Loud span’s Jake’s career
both song-wise and stylistically. It was
the first of three new projects released over approximately eight months, and
it is a testament to the Jake’s love of classic American music, and his ability
to take it to new heights in his own inimitable style. Live
& Out Loud is a classic.
Rating:
4.5 Stars (Out of 5)
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