Paxton Spangler Band - Trick Bag (2025) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. Trick Bag
02. Way Back Home
03. Jan Jan
04. Sitting in Limbo
05. Ode to Billy Joe
06. Hard Times
07. Rouge Dispensary

I’ve been making music with John “Tbone” Paxton for many years. We used to play gigs backing up New Orleans singer/songwriter/guitar player Earl King when he’d travel north without a band. The title cut “Trick Bag” is a nod to those great days. The rest of the album is filled out by bluesy or funkier instrumental tunes with the exception of “Limbo,” the only other vocal here. That is a tune that Tbone and I did when we played together in the Sun Messengers, a very popular band that toured throughout the Midwest, Ontario and annual trips down South as far as Key West. More great old days.

These instrumental tracks celebrate the excellent young musicians that Tbone and I hang out with in modern times. Check out Alex Colista on alto sax and Charlie Miller on trumpet on “Hard Times,” a tune we associate with the great horn player Marcus Belgrave. Our longtime guitarist Matt LoRusso contributes the lone original on this collection, “Rouge Dispensary,” a nice showcase for his playing. Drummer Sean Perlmutter drives the band into a frenzy on “Jan Jan.” This is a song we associate with Grant Green, also has a Detroit connection in that it was originally recorded by The Fabulous Counts, an American soul/funk group from Detroit. Baritone sax player Goode Wyche III takes a strong ride on that one, too. Bassist Trevor Lamb offers strong support with the soulful bass line to “Way Back Home” by the Crusaders.

This is basically the third recorded offering from Tbone, et al, and the first officially under the name the Paxton/Spangler Band. Some funky stuff, some mellow stuff, some bluesy stuff. We hope that you dig it.

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