Saxophonist Ken Field’s group – which performs in Mardi Gras-style costumes and masks – plays a mishmash of jazz, funk, and New Orleans second-line street music. Everything is fair game; their latest album, Forked Tongue, runs the gamut from the traditional Just a Closer Walk to Billy Idol’s White Wedding.
“If the Meters played funk as a natural extension of New Orleans, Field and company — hailing from Boston, but surely hailing from the Crescent City in another life — do New Orleans as a natural extension of funk and jazz, bringing it back down South with its cool climate edge intact.”
Brilliant improvisation…superb interpretations…inspired…deserves to be heard by all.
Imaginative arrangements…make up the lion’s share of the album but it is the four original tunes by leader/altoist Ken Field that really shine! A really appealing listen.
K, people, the final boundary of jazz has been breached: A Billy Idol song-a Billy Idol song, for God’s sake-has been turned into a New Orleans street march. The culprit is the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, the crazy Boston-based outfit led by alto saxophonist Ken Field.
Here’s my list in alphabetical (not numerical) order.
Beads and beignets could be in the mix, but high-energy funk and thumping brass definitely will be part of the post-Mardi Gras party.
“Captures the abandon of a street parade while expanding its stylistic scope … it’s got the essential ingredients spiced with fresh flavors.” — Dan Ouellette, jazz columnist for Billboard, contributing editor to Stereophile, longtime Downbeat contributor
Man, this snake can move!
Two things matter most when it comes to funk: the music has to be fun, and it can’t be boring.
Feel good. It’s okay to feel good in these days of war, floods, pestilence, and (insert the current price of) gasoline.
What do Billy Idol, Ornette Coleman and Doris Day have in common? One thing at least: They’re all fodder for the creative madness of the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble (RSE).
Don’t miss this vibrant and colorful band as they “git down” playing music by James Brown, Ornette Coleman, Billy Idol, along with their own original musical mash-up jambalaya concoctions.
We caught up with the group recently at a party at Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge. Band members dress in colorful sequined jackets and feathered head-dresses, which adds to the fun and exuberance of their music.
They’ll bring the party to our studio.
When asked: “how do you explain how a group from Cambridge got into the New Orleans brass band tradition,” the answer shows just how far RSE has traveled musically.
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