Three years within the making, House For Dinner arrives like a long-awaited meal, heat, beneficiant, and bursting with flavour. David Hillyard, the saxophonist who helped form The Slackers’ sound, brings his beloved New York collective again with a file that sits boldly on the crossroads of Jamaican rhythm and jazz custom.
Out on all platforms through Org Music, the album arrives pressed on a hanging clear pink double vinyl LP.
The story behind the album is as communal as its spirit. Marc Critelli captured 35 songs over three marathon days at Shillelagh Studios, with ten musicians working in shifts.
Hillyard then spent a yr layering overdubs and pulling in collaborators from his prolonged musical household throughout The Slackers, The Aggrolites, and Hepcat, earlier than handing the sprawling classes to Roger Rivas (The Aggrolites) to form right into a cohesive hour-long set.
THE ONLY REQUIREMENT WAS IT SOUNDED LIKE IT CAME FROM THE HEART
The forged is formidable. Legendary Jamaican percussionist Larry McDonald anchors every part. Chris Murray, BNegão, and Felipe Machado contribute vocals. Vic Ruggiero and Mike Sarason add keyboard color. The late Greg Lee affords backing vocals, a cherished and deeply felt presence all through.
Lead single Till Then balances basic ska rhythm with melodic grace. The title monitor fizzes with buoyant horns. Elsewhere, reinventions of Mack the Knife and Grazing within the Grass really feel contemporary but devoted.
“The one requirement was that I liked it,” says Hillyard. “That it sounded prefer it got here from the guts.”
It does. Pull up a chair.
TRACKLIST
01. This Day (Soul of Africa)
02. House For Dinner
03. Grazing In The Grass
04. Till Then ft Chris Murray
05. Jackpot
06. Let’s Get Misplaced
07. Ca Purange
08. Demise In The Area
09. Jazz Ska
10. Humungous Blues
11. Tenha Fe ft Felipe Machao & BNegão
12. Mack The Knife
13. Do It Good
ABOUT DAVID HILLYARD & THE ROCKSTEADY 7
David Hillyard & The Rocksteady 7 fuse Jamaican rhythm with jazz improvisation and New York ska grit. Fashioned within the mid-90s round Hillyard’s tenor sax, their albums spanning Playtime to Get Again Up! mix deep horn preparations with Latin color and soul.
A revolving forged of collaborators retains the sound contemporary. Hillyard stays probably the most distinctive saxophonists to emerge from the American ska revival.
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