I, for one, am crazy about instrumental albums. After a lifetime of pop radio, and rock-borne expectations in the mold of The Beatles, that’s not common, but there’s nothing like a lyric-less soundscape to put me in a state of mind that’s sweeter than words. Having said that, I’m picky. But even in the instrumental universe, Memphis brings more to the table than many cities. History leaves us with such gems as the Bill Black Combo, Willie Mitchell’s band, and the Ace Cannon oeuvre. Nowadays, we have the fine boogaloo jazz of the City Champs, and a crack band, the MDs, devoted wholly to the compositions of Booker T. & the MGs. And that’s just two among many.
Now, we have a band that’s so steeped in the Bluff City instrumental tradition they wear it on their collective sleeves: The Memphians. The only irony is that this group was the brainchild of a recent transplant, Dale Watson, who until 2017 was based in Austin, Texas. But when Dale moved in, he really moved in, taking it upon himself to renovate the classic Hernando’s Hide-a-way venue and setting up a fine retro-chic home near Graceland complete with its own recording facilities, Wat-Sun Studios.
While Watson still plays with His Lone Stars, from Texas, he’s also assembled a crew of Memphis’ finest for his more swinging nights at Hernando’s, and thus were the Memphians born. While he’s known to sing with them, they really excel at the kind of rootsy, groovy, swinging instrumentals that you rarely hear these days, but were once the mainstay of clubs like the Hide-a-way. Tunes from the heyday of instrumentals, like Bill Justis’ “Raunchy,” or the Bill Black Combo’s “Smokie,” or Ace Cannon’s “Tuff,” are part of the Memphians’ stock-in-trade.
Now, with Watson at the helm, they carry that aesthetic into the present, with a collection of originals that could sit side by side with any of the above classics. Dale Watson Presents the Memphians is a welcome — and pitch-perfect — return to a world where melody, harmony and an irresistible groove are all you need.
It helps that the Memphians are all steeped in the same musical touchstones. All tracks were penned by Watson, except four that he co-wrote with guitarist Mario Monterosso. Joining them are local musicians Danny Banks (drums), T. Jarrod Bonta (piano), Carl Caspersen (upright bass), and Jim Spake (saxophone). Making the most of last year’s quarantine, Watson recorded the group at Wat-Sun Studios in just two days.
The mood swerves from the Duane Eddy-esque low-down twang of “Agent Elvis” or “Deep Eddy” to dreamy reveries like “Dalynn Grace” or “Serene Lee.” And thanks to Monterosso’s influence, they may have produced the only rock and roll rave-up from Memphis where the players shout in Italian — “Mi Scusi.”
Roberto Hawkins
Dale Watson
All the proceedings go down with nary a hitch or a false note, with all players at the top of their pre-70s game. Being a pianist myself (and, full disclosure, occasionally sitting on Watson’s back bench of musicos), I’m especially impressed by Bonta’s ivory-tickling, ranging from perfectly clinky high notes to rollicking boogie woogie without missing a beat, and always bringing both precision and fire to his solos.
The same goes for Watson’s precise guitar playing, but any fan of his past work takes that as a matter of course. The real revelation here is how effortlessly he’s joined by his crew of local savants to produce a classic that somehow stands outside of time.