STIR FRIED
Last Of The Blue Diamond Miners (Falbo Records)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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I'm confused. The cover of this CD announces that it was done "with Buddy Cage," the pedal steel master who has been heard at various times with The New Riders Of The Purple Sage, Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, The Band and many others. The back of the package tells me that Buddy Cage is a "special guest." All of the material in the press packet assures me that Buddy Cage is in fact a full fledged member of the band.

So what is it folks? I dunno. And frankly, I don't care if he's a member, a guest or just "with the band," as long as they don't let Buddy Cage get too far away from the band whenever they play. His outstanding and distinctive sound and style is an essential ingredient in the music on this disc, and this is great music. In addition to Cage, the core members of the band are John Markowski on vocals and guitars, drummer Jimi Blackford, guitarist Jan London, bassist Rawn Randall, percussionist Vincent Lorenzon and Joanne Ledger, whose vocal contributions are described as "backup," but whose contribution is truly as essential as that of Cage or anyone else in the lineup.

With those seven on hand, the sound is bound to be big, but they take it a step further with contributions from fiddler Vassar Clements, pianists Jo Jo Herman (Widespread Panic), Rich Hilton (Eric Clapton) and Dr. John. When the keyboards need to take a funkier turn than even Dr. John can provide, as hard as that may be to imagine, they fold in original P-Funkster Bernie Worrell on B-3 and clavinet. When only a banjo will do, a banjo is provided in the hands of Tony Trischka, who is credited with teaching Bela Fleck how to tame the five string monster.

All that talent is applied to a set of tunes principally from the pens of Markowski and his father, producer/performer Thomas Jefferson Kay. The songs range from hillbilly flavored country dementia to straight off the street funk to Steely Dan style jazz-pop. In other words, it's yer basic jam band blend. Unlike many of their jam band compatriots, though, Stir Fried gets its music over as well in the studio as on the stage, making this one of the better discs of its kind to grace my player in a while. Although nobody's likely to make the claim that you have to see them live to appreciate them, a little time with this one is going to make you want to see Stir Fried live, but you're going to have a real good time with some real good music while you wait.

Track List:

Vanessa * Nothing To Do * Blood Brother * C'est Bonne Rue * West Of The Mississippi * Quagmire * Road Trip To Marist * Black Dress * The Door Is Still Open * Let It Be Known * Sex Machine * Last Of The Blue Diamond Miners

© 2000 - Shaun Dale