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Ron Levy’s Wild Kingdom
Zim Zam Zoom: Acid Blues on B-3, Bullseye Blues CD BB 9570, 1996 (51:14)
Yes, Virginia, there is no such thing as acid-blues.
We have to get one thing straight right out of the gate.
This record is touted as the "first-ever Acid-Blues
record...a unique melding of blues groove and jazz
sensibility." Well, I don’t buy it. I can think of
at least three records released in the ’60s and
’70s that represent an entire genre of instrumental
organ jazz played on blues forms. Bob Porter himself
produced and Rudy Van Gelder himself recorded Johnny Hammond
Smith’s 1969 Soul Talk on Prestige. Talk
about a melding of blues groove and jazz sensibility. What
about John Patton’s 1969 Accent On The
Blues, again recorded by Rudy Van Gelder, this time for
Blue Note? And I can’t leave out Groove Holmes. Check
out his 1977 LP for Muse, Good Vibrations, once
again recorded by Van Gelder and produced by Bob Porter. Now
these are only what I could come up with off the top of my
head. Rest assured that garage sales and record stores
around the country are littered with dozens of other
examples (and if you find them, send them to me). The most
I’ll concede is that this might be the first soul-jazz
album recorded by Rudy Van Gelder and produced by Bob Porter
not released on LP.
So who cares if Levy coined a new term for an old
groove? How does it sound? As it turns out, not bad. Levy
has all the right cats, starting with Porter and Van Gelder,
of course, but he also includes giants of the genre drummer
Idris Muhammad and guitarist Melvin Sparks. Levy also adds
the requisite tenor sax and congas, but, for a twist, throws
in bass (unheard of) and trombone. The boys swing hard
through eight tunes, including five penned by Levy.
For the most part, it’s funky and everybody plays
their ass off. Their version of Ma Rainey’s "CC
Rider" is done as a gospel rave-up with Levy
contributing an intro that is pure Jimmy McGriff. They do
meander here and there (somewhere in the middle of the seven
minute Levy blues, "U Rockin’ Me," for
instance), but your party guests will never notice as they
shout for more drinks above the noise. Interestingly,
though, Levy never seems to open up with the organ
pyrotechnics he pulled out for his 1993 release, B-3 Blues and Grooves, also on Bullseye. The
guy has some serious organ chops, but it sounds like he
might be saving up for his next project.
This record does not have the sound, though. If
you’ve heard those old LPs, you know what I’m
talking about. There’s a kind of reverb wash that runs
through the whole thing, and it sounds like two mono
channels instead of one stereo for some reason. It took me
right back. Right back to my LPs, that is. In a triumph for
vinyl, the sound that Van Gelder and Porter were able to get
on LP absolutely kills the sound on this CD. In comparison
(and in comparison only), the CD sounds flat and lifeless.
So where does that leave us? If you already have a
collection of ’60s and ’70s soul-jazz, this
one’s not going to put you over the top. But, as far as
I can tell, none of the LPs mentioned above are available on
CD, so it’s not a bad place to start if you prefer the
shiny 5" format. If nothing else, I’m hoping that Ron
Levy just jump-started a movement to reissue all those old
Porter/Van Gelder sides.– Jason Staczek
performers
Ron Levy, B-3 organ; Melvin Sparks, guitar; Idris
Muhammad, drums; Stanley Banks, bass; Ralph Dorsey, congas;
Gordon Beadle, tenor saxophone; Ray Greene, trombone.
production
Produced by Ron Levy and Bob Porter; recorded and
mastered by Rudy Van Gelder.
song titles
Zim Zam Zoom • CC Rider • Lost
Tribes • U Rockin’ Me • Sons of
Abraham • Silver Cannonball • Last Go
Round • Lonely Avenue
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