SCOTT RAMMINGER

DO WHAT YOUR HEART SAYS TO

2017-03-10

For this, his third disc, singer/sax-man Scott Ramminger lined up an all-star group of New Orleans musicians including Doug Belote and Johnny Vidacovich (Astral Project) on drums, George Porter, Jr (The Meters) and Roland Guerin on bass, Shane Theriot on guitar, David Torkanowski on keyboards, Rick Trolsen and Greg Hicks on trombones and Eric Lucero on trumpet. As if this musical cast wasn’t enough, he also brought in Tommy Malone (the subdudes), Bekka Bramlett, Francine Reed (Lyle Lovett), Janiva Magness and the McCrary Sisters to spice things up on duet vocals. As befitting the down-home pedigree of the top-notch cast, the grooves are impeccably funky and heavy on R & B. Blues purists should proceed directly to "Winter Is Always Worse" which is a low-down blues with soaring guitar and saxophone heating things up. The title cut and "Get Back Up" are funky gems with saucy soloing by Ramminger and Torkanowski. "Stubborn Man" and "Living Too Fast" have a slinky party groove that wouldn’t be out of place on a Little Feat disc. "Mystery to Me" has a New Orleans party groove that belies the befuddlement Ramminger experiences while trying to figure out his woman, a feat that he finds to be a waste of time on "Give a Pencil to A fish" where he muses that some things are just not destined to work out. His sentiment takes a 180 on "Off My Mind" where he finds he can’t shake a woman from his thoughts. "A Girl For Life" finds him consummating that obsession with proclamations of life-long partnership and the end of his hound-dog days. Curiously, the guest vocalists that appear on almost every cut contribute little more than harmonies and occasional background fills on the chorus of the tunes. Since they are all featured vocalists on their own discs one would have expected a more prominent role for them here. That said, their contributions certainly add to this overall solid disc. Smitty

review by Mark