Released 10.15.12 Daptone Records
The Menahan Street Band is one of a crew of performers -- Sharon Jones, The Budos Band, Antibalas, Sugarman 3 to name a few -- who record on the Daptone Label out of Brooklyn. The Daptone artists as well as a bunch of other musicians are leading the Nu-Soul movement. What impressed this listener about the Menahan's new CD, "The Crossing," is the stateliness of the music. Yeah, you heard it right, “stately soul music.” Kind of counterintuitive, but that's the way their music hits me. In listening a bit closer, it’s that horn section coming out big-time, working tight with the percussion, where I get that feeling of "stately progression." I played the Menahan's 2008 release, “Make The Road By Walking” a lot, and yeah, there it is, right there in the title track . . . deliberate, elegant horn work. . . and it surely does swing. On this CD, "Bullet for the Bagman” is a must hear. But it's by no means the only one. Each and every track on this CD presents a new perspective, you don’t get bored, and that’s the mark of darned good music.
- DJ Hurricane