Search - Jimmy Mcintosh :: orleans to london featuring Ronnie Wood and The Neville Bros

NOLA funk masters with Jeff Beck & Ron Wood

Robert Putignano | Mount Vernon, NY USA | 06/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Jimmy McIntosh `Orleans to London' http://www.JimmyMcIntosh.com Rating- 8


Jimmy McIntosh's `Orleans to London' assembles some of the best players on the planet, not that Jimmy is a slouch guitarist by any stretch, but for this debut recording McIntosh employs the services of three Nevilles- Art, Cyril & Ivan, and from the London side- Ron Wood & Jeff Beck who because of record contract issues Beck goes by the name of `Hot Rod.' There are eleven tunes included, seven originals by McIntosh, ten are instrumentals, and one vocal track by Ivan where the music was written by McIntosh and lyrics by none other than Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller fame. The other covers are Hendrix' "Third Stone From the Sun," Jagger & Richards "Slave," and the traditional "This Minstral Boy" arranged by McIntosh.


`Biker Babe' sets the tone and vibe of this very fine recording with some very tasty guitar licks from Jimmy, with Ivan Neville on organ, Cyril Neville on percussion, and a very talented bassist Rochon Westmoreland (who I am not familiar with) who plays on ten of the eleven tracks.


"It Was A Virus" is a cool R&B tune, with great lyrics, which shows off the well-known talented vocal work of Ivan Neville who also plays organ, and `Mean' Willie Green (also from the Neville Brothers) on drums, plus the three stellar guitars of McIntosh, Ron Wood & Jeff Beck. McIntosh told me that; "I played the first solo, then Jeff Beck enters on the right channel playing off of Ivan's vocal, Ronnie Wood starts playing on the left channel during the long vamp, and at the end with Beck on the right side. Beck sometimes sounds like he's playing with a slide but it was all with whammy bar." Sweet!





Other stand out tunes include: `Mama Funk' with Ronnie Wood on guitar, and Art Neville on organ. `G-Spot' is not what you think it is, as the `G' stands for the key the song is played in, `G-Spot' features Beck, Wood, McIntosh, and Ivan, and its one of my many favorite tracks included. The ultra heavy Stones song `Slave,' will definitely get you in a Jagger/Richards mood, as Wood, McIntosh, and Ivan really lay down the groove on this red hot cover. The closing "The Minstral Boy," is an old Irish folk tune that Jimmy performed at his father's memorial service in November of 2001. "It's a couple hundred years old and was played at Winston Churchill's funeral," he explains. "I worked up that arrangement and it came out nice. My brother had always wanted me to record a copy for him to have, so I put this on here as a kind of surprise for him."


Everything about this disk is focused, it's very well recorded, extremely well produced, and `Orleans to London' will definitely be on my Top 10 favorites for 2007. This is a highly recommended CD, feel very comfortable to purchase this disk at: http://www.JimmyMcIntosh.


Bob Putignano www.SoundsofBlue.com


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