Jai “Jaimoe” Johanson, a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, has constructed an interesting side project when his main group is on hiatus: A jazz-rock collective called Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band.
The outfit’s debut album, called Renaissance Man and set for release on Dec. 17, includes a bubbling roux of soul-lifting Southern rock (including a cover of the Allmans’ “Melissa”), simmering R&B and swinging polyrhythmic verve. A highlight: The Jasssz Band’s take on “Rainy Night In Georgia,” composed by swamp-pop legend Tony Joe White and made into a hit by Brook Benton.
Johanson, of course, will always be more associated with the twin-set power of the Allman’s locomotive blues-rock, no matter who many copies of Renaissance Man manage to sell, but he shows a delicate restraint here — recalling not so much those thundering days at the Fillmore but something almost forgotten, from way further back. Jaimoe, after all, had early-career stints as drummer with soul acts like Otis Redding and Sam and Dave, too. Then there’s guitarist and vocalist Junior Mack, who provides a deeper, darker coloring to a song that’s already heavy with crepuscular sadness.
The Jasssz Band is rounded out by bassist Dave Stoltz, keyboardist Bruce Katz, saxists Paul Lieberman and Kris Jensen, and trumpeter Reggie Pittman. In the video above, Mathais Schuber sits in for Katz, and Jay Collins is featured on flute. Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band will be touring with Greg Allman in 2012.
Purchase the Jasssz Band’s Renaissance Man here.
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