The Rumble Featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr.
Live at the Maple Leaf
**** out of *****
One of the more exciting acts to recently emerge from the always vibrant New Orleansmusic scene is The Rumble Featuring Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. Their debut album, Live at The Maple Leaf captures the bands talents and palpable onstage energy.
The majority of the band started playing together in the group Cha Wa, before branching out on their own and this debut shows that they have the skills to pay the bills.
The main group consists of Second Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. of the Golden Eagles, trumpeter Aurélien Barnes, trombonist José Maize Jr., bassist TJ Norris, guitarist Ari Teitel, keyboardist Andriu Yanovski and drummer Trenton O'Neal. Also on this night Pedro Segundo joined on percussion and Amari Ansari on tenor sax. Since 2021 they have been displaying their strengths throughout their hometown and with their first release, Live at the Maple Leaf, they deliver those songs to the world.
Opening with a revved up intro the band then drops into "Up Until The Morning" a showcase for the horns as Maize blows beautiful lines to wrap up the track. Since six of the seven core members were instrumental in the recording of Cha Wa's fantastic 2021 release My People, the majority of their live set consists of those songs, with extended jamming.
The funky "Uptown" uses rich bass from Norris along with Mardi Gras Indian chanting. "Bow Down" is filtered into a groovy party song, "Golden Crown" delivers the deep drawn out funk and "My People" is a showcase for the keys and horns. Live centerpiece "Morning Glory" expertly mixes up drum breaks, percussion, chanting and keyboard solos as the band stretch out. Less successful is the scaled down "Take It Back" as the slow rolling, jazzy, effort is at odds musically with it's lyrical call to arms.
More engaging is when the group mix in hip-hop to their style such as on the tight and excellently played "Trouble" as well as the encore of "Second Line Girl", which incorporates beats and rhymes with the New Orleans sound. The Rumble also offers up a cover of The Wild Magnolias "New Suit", the tribute to Bo Dollis Sr and crew is a delightful display of wah-wah/clean guitar work and trumpet soloing, flourishing into an album highlight, along with the banging set closing monster that is "Wildman".
Live at the Maple Leaf is a dynamite first step for The Rumble as they forge their way forward with songs that capture the spirit and energy of the band and the city of New Orleans as a whole.
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