Southside Johnny Lyon has been fronting one of America's most consistently hard-rocking R&B show bands, Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, for well over 30 years, so this album should come as something of a surprise to longtime fans -- here
Southside sings a dozen tunes from the songbook of
Tom Waits alongside a jazzy, full-bodied big band led by
Richie "LaBamba" Rosenberg, a longtime fixture in the Asbury Jukes horn section (and a member of
Max Weinberg's band on Late Night with Conan O'Brien). While this is very much a change of pace, it's one that both
Lyon and
Rosenberg handle with confidence and aplomb;
Lyon's voice shows a touch more grain than it did in his salad days with the Jukes, but his sense of phrasing and showman's touch is superb, and he brings swagger, heart, and sincerity to every performance here, and when
Waits shows up for a duet on "Walk Away," the two trade lines as if they've been singing together for years.
Lyon is also a shrewd judge of material, and the dozen numbers here fit his personality and vocal approach like a glove, especially "Please Call Me Baby," "New Coat of Paint," and "All the Time in the World."
Rosenberg's charts are robust and imaginative, honoring the strength of
Waits' melodies while giving the songs a chance to stretch out in new directions, and given that a majority of these songs came from the
Beefheart-influenced period following
Swordfishtrombones, these versions give them a new and very different musical personality steeped in big-band jazz, supper club blues, and classic pop. Is this rock & roll? Not quite, but it's got a beat, it swings hard, and it boasts a great singer and a great band working their way through a first-class set of songs;
Grapefruit Moon is an experiment that succeeds, and hopefully it won't be too long before
Lyon and
Rosenberg try something like this again. ~ Mark Deming