CD of the Day - "Dr. John: City Lights"

CD of the Day
Dr. John: "City Lights" (Verve) 2008
Now reissued on Verve's "Original" series (nice digipack cover), recorded in New York's Hit Factory Studio in July & August 1978, "City Lights" marked a transitional point for Mac Rebennack, better known as Dr. John. It found him beginning to move away from the swampy, gritty New Orleans R&B sound of his earlier albums toward a "cleaner", jazzier style. There's a great vibe of the LA pop-jazz sound of the late 70s, sometimes similar to the overall mood of Stelly Dan's "Aja" from 1977. It's the first of two albums that Dr. John made for A&M/Horizon (its follow-up was "Tango Palace").
The repertoire includes collaborations with the venerable '50s/'60s rock 'n' roll songwriter Doc Pomus on the opening track "Dance the Night Away With You" and "He's A Hero".
It's a typical top-class Tommy LiPuma production, engineered by his longtime collaborator Grammy-winning Al Schmitt. Its urbane jazz-inflected direction is a courtesy of a stellar cast of musicians and Claus Ogerman's scores on two tracks. Dr. John's visceral piano playing and warm growl of a voice are sonic fingerprints that provide plenty of connecting thread.
A key force on the project, Hugh McCracken co-produced the album, co-wrote the rhythm & horn arrangements (with Dr. John) and played electric guitar throughout the sessions, although another ace guitarist, John Tropea, also appears in several tracks.
Claus Ogerman contributed lush orchestral scores on ballads, adding strings & flutes to "Rain" (the flutes sound like birds on the intro, and David Sanborn's alto sax flies over the horizon) and the title track "City Lights", painting a musical landscape.
Among the numbers without orchestra, the highlight is the samba-tinged "Snake Eyes", thanks to a great Steve Gadd performance on drums, perfect as usual. Percussionist Arthur Jenknins adds a tasty latin spice, while John Tropea does a furious guitar solo.
My dear friend George Young takes short tenor sax solo spots on the radio-friendly tracks "Fire of Love" (pumping bass by Will Lee and the unmistakable piano touch of the late Richard Tee) and "Sonata/He's A Hero" (Dr. John on acoustic piano, Tee on Fender Rhodes). The horn section also includes the late Barry Rogers on trombone and another dear friend of mine, Ronnie Cuber, on baritone sax.