Champagne & Grits, what a hell of a combination, or is it? Your taste buds wouldn’t know unless you literally tried it. However, I suspect that Little Axe isn’t discussing the intricate delicacies of food on “Champagne & Grits” but instead using digestible words in interesting combinations to spoon-feed us on the state of our social society. On Little Axe’s latest CD, it is offered up more symbolically in a paradoxical sense; Champagne is to Upper Class as Grits is to Lower Class, or is it? Little Axe is quietly shouting to us, no matter what we say, no matter what we do, we need to check ourselves, because we’re “All In the Same Boat.”
From the first “time-keeping” taps on the opening track, “Grinning In Your Face,” Little Axe gets up close and personal; like a Blues playing uncle sitting on a porch, guitar in hand, laying down the motivational words of wisdom and plucking away, on a guitar, to the point where even the guitar seems like it too is singing. “Bear this in my, a true friend is hard to find. Don’t you mind people grinning in your face.” - (Sun House and B. Alexander).
“Grinning In Your Face” the first track on the 13 song CD on Real World Records is a subtractive mix, Skip McDonald on guitar and vocals by Bernard Fowler, backing vocalist for the Rolling Stones. That’s it. Presenting the song in this bare bone form made the lyrical advice so powerful and the emotionally charged vocal so much more captivating, that even Doug and Keith couldn’t have mind their tracks being muted on this mix.
If you weren’t aware that Doug Wimbish was on bass and Keith Le Blanc was on drums you will be by the second track as they are fully pumped up in the mix on “Finger on the Trigger.” Your body will sway to this. Doug, Keith and Skip put the groove down on this one, while Skip in his role as Little Axe drops the message “Why are we governed by those who worship vanity and gold. If you’re not busy buying, you’re busy being sold” - (B. Alexander/A. Maxwell/A. Salvador) and keeps moving, reminiscent of Tack>>Head lyrical maneuvers, but in a totally bluesy Little Axe style. Keith LeBlanc is as steady as a metronome and his drum tones can only be described as sweet, while bass enthusiast and mixologist alike will want to know how Doug Wimbish and Adrian Sherwood managed to get those phat bass tones and frequencies onto this CD. I got an opportunity to ask Doug about that but all I got from him was a smile. Simply put, he wasn’t telling. What he did say was that he felt Little Axe was in a good place and the material was relevant and it was a great opportunity to play with his band mates, Skip, Keith, Adrian and Bernard once again.
What's so cool about the group is that if the power went out at any given venue, no electricity what so ever, all Little Axe would need are acoustic instruments and you the audience would still be in for a treat, the ultimate unplugged. The band's lyrical content and musicianship is strong enough to run the gambit from Folk festival to Blues bar or Rock venue as they did as the opening act for Robert Plant. Should the power stay on, then you the audience would be treated to the inner workings of Little Axe; the ambience, the loops, the samples, the processing magic of Skip McDonald and Adrian Sherwood. Inner workings which revolve around the steady Reggae Rock Dub Ambient Grooves of the low frequency guru, Doug Wimbish and the undeniable tones and rhythms that emanate from the “on the money and in the groove” playing style of drummer Keith Le Blanc.
One of my favorite tracks is actually a thirty-seven seconds ditty entitled “The Way I See It.” The guitar work is bursting with emotions and leaves you wanting to hear more, but thirty-seven seconds is all you get, what a shame.
Several vocalists and musicians contributed to Champagne & Grits including Shara Nelson, Ghetto Priest, Alan Glen, Junior Delgado, Prithpal Rajput, Chris Difford, Denise Sherwood, Dorie Jackson, Dave Foster, Bernard O’Neil and Clubfoot. The CD was produced by Skip McDonald and Adrian Sherwood and was recorded at On-U Sound Studios, London and Treehouse, Mansfield, Connecticut (USA).
Although it could be said that we are “Living and Sleeping In A Dangerous Time,” as Little Axe puts it. It is still refreshing to hear new material from a group that gives us music to listen to; music to sway to; music that, in a sense, is more than just food for thought and more than just Champagne & Grits.
Little Axe will be performing at the 27th annual Calgary Folk Music Festival July 27-30, 2006 at Prince's Island Park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The group will also appear at the 2nd annual Wim-Bash at Sully’s Pub, Hartford, Connecticut on August 5, 2006.
Written by Lionel Crawford
