Jan Marie & The Mean Reds have chosen to release their song selections with a live album titled Released. A lot of classy timeless music is certainly released by Jan Marie and her band of local A-list players. Trumpet player Scott Aruda, keyboardist Rusty Scott, drummer Phil McGowan, and bassist Justin Meyer provide a high octane support for Jan Marie as she takes her listener down music’s memory lane. Local music scene journeyman Tom Bianchi and Jan Marie have drawn a good sound from the vocals and musicians to come up with a first rate live album.
Jan Marie’s vocal glides around the twisty lyrics on opening track “Polly Wolly Doodle.” Her silken timbre is another treat as she makes it sound easy to finesse these lyrics. Aruda blows a lovely trace of horn melody in the backdrop that shadows Jan Marie with style. Organ and groove know their place, keeping it solid while keeping out of her way.
“Ain’t Nobody’s Business” lets Jan Marie show a healthy dose of attitude with only the slightest inflection. She sounds like the big boss lady here, singing with ever elevating spunk near the end, crooning gracefully over Rusty Scott’s rich character of a piano line. It’s uncanny how this band can transport the listener back into a golden age of American music. Aruda’s trumpet blows a sweet, breezy line yet hints at attitude. Meanwhile, Scott’s piano maintains a consistence presence, as appealing as any 1920s dandy in a yellow and white checkered seersucker suit.
Jan Marie and Rusty Scott are all class as they roll in “Mama Goose Cut Loose.” She rides in on his tuft of organ swirl and continues alongside Mr. Aruda’s jazzy trumpet excursion. Jan Marie squeezes a bit of rasp out of her vocal here, and it fits perfectly into the attitude of a mama cutting loose.
“Down By The Riverside” is another delightful tap dance through our country’s musical past. Sung from the point of view of a retiring warrior, Jan Marie makes her feelings clear. She’s done with it. Her voice rises up like a gutsy personal anthem, something that could be sung in honky tonks, late night clubs, and smoky bars as well as along parade routes and outdoor celebrations. Aruda’s trumpet line blows loud and clear, a perfect clarion call to reflect the release of tension in the lead vocalist’s new revelation. Another nifty treat is the way the rhythm section manages the jaunty groove so a listener cannot resist a toe tapping urge.
A sly sense of mischief rides in the under currents of “Wade In The Water.” The listener can feel it the suspicious bass line, the sneaky organ chord progression, the snaking trumpet line. Like Moses leading his pursuers into the once parted sea, Jan Marie conjures images of similar trickery and one-upmanship. She croons some of her verses here with a snazzy inflection, making you feel her alignment with the message of this song. There is something about the way Jan Marie pauses and resumes crooning that makes one want to listen even more closely, a breathy restlessness that makes one wonder what is she up to now.
“I Been Workin’ On The Railroad” is one of those overly familiar standards that you’d think would be uninteresting until you hear Jan Marie and her boys blow more life into it. Aruda gives it a lively trumpet line that swaggers in a way that can make one picture a lot of hard working men working way too hard. Scott’s piano tinkling has a hard edge that reinforces this life of drudgery, and, taken all together becomes a fantastic story song, a piece of American history, and an arrangement that makes one pause and wonder over the possibilities in music. Jan Marie injects her spunk as she calls on Dinah to blow her horn.
Jan Marie draws the emotive line in the sand with “Everybody Loves My Baby.” Over a slow grooving charge of horn, piano, and rhythmic march, she makes clear she means business with her confident croon. It’s a treat to hear her voice unfurl with an impressive range in timbre, tone, and dynamics while that band makes one say “Damn!” at how well they do their do. Nuggets of notes just stomp through underneath her voice to make one heck of a zinger.
One of the greatest spiritual songs, written by the people who needed it most, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” finds Jan Marie pulling out an emotive fiber from deep within herself. Her unaccompanied intro shows the unbridled power and natural tenderness of her voice. Then, the band kicks in and we get a tasty combo of the original call for mercy with a hipster’s appreciation for jazzy arrangements. A sophisticated rhythm section smacks this one along while organ and trumpet layer something special over the groove, making yesteryear’s tune sound like it was the soundtrack in a contemporary musician’s dreamscape.
“Saint James Infirmary” crackles with a sorrowful energy. The rhythm section cuts loose and slaps this tune along. Piano and trumpet smack it even further, harder with their engaging, dueling melody lines. Jan Marie delivers the vocal goods, matching the power of her band mates while finessing the theme of this one with her natural character voice. The sweet irony of this tune is it turns a sad story into a hip, danceable nightclub tune, and these talents can make it happen.
Jan Marie and her gang close out with a touch of Methodist jazz, performing the gospel standard “Amazing Grace,” keeping it fresh, interesting, and vibrant. There is a thickness in the organ groove and trumpet melody that make one feel something significant is going on. Jan Marie also infuses this with something extra, an over the top vocal that maintains the timeless loftiness.
Jan Marie & The Mean Reds have come up with a significant document of their abilities in a live setting. They also breathe new life into some of the greatest material in the American songbook.
