Stanton Moore III

iTunes Review

The driving force behind New Orleans funk outfit Galactic, drummer Stanton Moore steps away from his day job and into the Crescent City’s storied Preservation Hall to record this powerhouse, groove-heavy organ-trio session. With a pair of fellow jam-band stalwarts on board — the Hammond heavyweight Robert Walter and the soulful but adventurous guitarist Will Bernard — Moore seems happy to make this a true collaborative effort, with scintillating results. Walter spurs the band through five of his deep-pocket funk originals, including “Poison Pushy,” “Big ‘Uns Get the Ball Rolling,” and “(Don’t Be Comin’ with No) Weak Sauce.” Bernard wrote “Dunkin’ in the Deep,” which showcases his own tangy, explorative, blues-drenched guitar work, and adds special guests Skerik on sax and Mark Mullins on trombone. The album ends with an absorbing three-song homage to Moore’s resilient hometown: On Abdullah Ibrahim’s moving ballad “Water from an Ancient Well,” Skerik shows great depth and passion. The trio then delivers an absolutely sinister reading of Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks” before closing with a tender but unsettling crawl through the spiritual “I Shall Not Be Moved.” Using soul jazz as a springboard to points beyond, Moore deftly steers from behind the kit.