In this ongoing Monday Series we will be exploring various artists versions of Bob Dylan song's. Today's tune is a cover by Cha Wa playing "Masters of War"
All April (and the first week of May) RtBE focuses our Monday Dylan Cover Series on artists who are playing this years New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Today is Cha Wa who play the festival Sunday April 30th
From the first time we tackled a cover of this tune:
Ranking as one of his most accusatory and cutting tracks Dylan condemns the whole "war machine" on this classic and vital song (the "hope that you die" line is so facking cold, it is brutal). Often misrepresented as an attack on war itself (Dylan always said he wasn't a pacifist) this track calls out the government for using war-as-business (the Cold War in particular) and business-as-war models when lives are put on the line for meaningless reasons. As alive and burning now as it was in 1962 when he wrote it.
Cover:
Thoughts on Cover Artist:
Cha Wa are one of RtBE's favorites on the New Orleans scene these days. There has been a major band shift resulting in The Rumble, who we like even more, but Cha Wa still brings the heat. We LOVED this album, rating it high in our year end wrap up.
Thoughts on Cover:
A great cover with guest Alvin Youngblood Jr. (who we saw at Jazzfest years ago) helping out. The group sets the spacey scene with percussion and smoky horn work. The lyrics are sung powerfully and the New Orleans spirit is infused with Dylan's strong lyrics. An all around fantastic cover for this series.
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