Grand Marquis - Hold On To Me (2010)

Tracklist

01. Night Is For Lovers
02. The Spider and the Fly
03. Topsy
04. Hold On To Me
05. Sway
06. The World Is Waiting For the Sunrise
07. Ain't No Good To Me
08. Exactly Like You
09. Saint James Infirmary Blues
10. Milenberg Joys
11. Dinah
12. After You've Gone
13. Good Rockin' Tonight

The Grand Marquis' new album, Hold on to Me, is exactly what we all hoped for: straight from the heart. It is real, swinging, jumping, bluesing, wailing music with a brassy shimmer. The last CD, One More Night, was so fantastic that it was bound to be difficult to live up to, much less to surpass; however, there's not a nit in the whole “Hold on to Me” works to pick. This album delivers just what Grand Marquis fans crave more of.
From the get-go, the Grand Marquis launch into “The Night is for Lovers,” a hot original tune with enough sizzling style to raise Cab Calloway from the dead. It swings with a spicy speakeasy feel. Like the rest of the album, “The Night is for Lovers” borrows the ambiance of the great underground music of the early twentieth century coupled with a modern energetic delivery. One gets the sense that this is what the roaring twenties and the swinging thirties would have sounded like if every musician could have really cut loose and shaken off the societal bondage of their times.
The timeless sounds continue with the second track, "The Spider and the Fly," originally recorded by Kansas City blues and jazz legend Myra Taylor. It's a defining tune of any live Grand Marquis show, a deep bow of gratitude to the band's musical roots. Another Myra Taylor tune, "Still Blue Water," is combined with the classic "St. James Infirmary Blues" later in the album. It is a seamless and classy combination of great swing era tunes.
In every genre an album comes along about once in a decade that could turn on a whole new generation of fans; an album that shows people whom have never even given much thought to that style of music before what makes that style “work,” what makes that style beloved by its fans. The last time a group captured anything close to what the Grand Marquis do for their jazzy genre, the band Squirrel Nut Zipper brought a similar style to anachronistic national acclaim. The Grand Marquis have original music that is well enough written and soulfully enough performed to do the same thing, if only they get the notice they deserve. By qualifying for the International Blues Challenge (IBC, held annually in Memphis, Tennessee) finals, they have earned a chance to perhaps earn the attention they deserve. The Grand Marquis will represent Topeka at the IBC in 2011.
Other originals on the album include the title track, “Hold on to Me,” which has a rocking, driven rhythm coupled with speakeasy-swing-style vocals and lead lines. As each instrument takes over the melody, from the angrily whispered secret of Chad Boydston's expressive trumpet solo to the smooth, expertly melodic rasp of Bryan Redmond's saxophone, the music of the Grand Marquis is an irresistible presence. If you can listen to these tracks without tapping your feet, consult a physician immediately. While the cover-tunes on this album are performed with the highest professional zeal, without a doubt the greatest performances that the album offers are the Grand Marquis' fantastic originals. Their songs “Ain't No Good to Me” and “Sway” are worthy of the same level of praise given to the previously mentioned “The Night is for Lovers” and “Hold on to Me.”
Every musician in this group is an inspired instrumentalist. Lisa McKenzie, on drums, provides both nuanced flair and heavy beats with equal adroitness, and every tune is ably manhandled by Ben Ruth's threatening, pumping bass. Ruth's sense of rhythm and rich, melodic, counterpoint style is entertaining enough to be a show all its own. Finally, guitarist Sammy Nicolier, a recent addition to the group and a transplant from the Burgundy region of France, plays with a laid back, tasteful jazz style reminiscent of Django Reinhardt and rounds the Grand Marquis sound out nicely.

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