- RAVEN HUMPHRES
For that matter, the CD starts off at a gallop with �Compared to What� (Gene McDaniels), continues the pace with �Good Rockin�� (with Les Hutchinson on drums) and then blows the roof off with the jazz-rock-heavy �Blue Whale Shuffle�, an absolutely stunning collaboration by Raven Humphres and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Wallace. On this track, as well as numerous others on the CD, Raven is joined by Nev�r Moore on baritone sax, neatly complementing his tenor.
The mood gets mellow and jazzy for a few tunes while Raven demonstrates a similar adeptness on the clarinet, including a composition by Jerry Lee Davidson called �Trouble Trouble� on which track Jerry plays guitar and provides �vocals� along with Virginia Klemens. Peggy Baldwin sits in on cello for this one track.
The mood gets mellow and jazzy for a few tunes while Raven demonstrates a similar adeptness on the clarinet, including a composition by Jerry Lee Davidson called �Trouble Trouble� on which track Jerry plays guitar and provides �vocals� along with Virginia Klemens. Peggy Baldwin sits in on cello for this one track.
The next two (instrumental) tracks were previously recorded by Julian �Cannonball� Adderly. The first, �Work Song�, was composed by Cannonball�s brother Nat, and the second, �Mercy, Mercy, Mercy�, was composed by his keyboardist, Josef Zawinul. Although Raven�s version of �Work Song� certainly works around that famous lick from Simon & Garfunkel�s �Got A Groovy Thing Going, Baby� (which has apparently been previously attributed to the Atterley composition), I really don�t hear the similarity between the two songs, certainly not with the Adderly version contained on �Them Dirty Blues�.
