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Review from Best Of New Orleans

In this northernmost outpost of the Caribbean, there has been a dearth of bands playing Jamaican music. This is a shame because the 1960s Jamaican bands such as the Skatalites formulated their ideas about ska and reggae from listening on the shortwave radio to New Orleans radio stations playing Fats Domino and Lloyd Price. Currently the Revealers and Zion Trinity are the standard bearers, but now there is another band full of skanking rhythms, 007.

The 007 debut CD, Studied Rudeness, is full of great songs and rock-steady beats. They model their music on the Studio One and Treasure Island recordings from Jamaica in the early 1960s and perform versions of the classic "Ba Ba Boom" and "The Tide Is High." They have great versatility in sporting three singers with distinctive voices. Drummer Jeffrey Clemens (of G. Love and Special Sauce) uses his slight rasp to great advantage on tunes such as "The Ties That Bind" and "Just Tell Me." Joe Cabral (of the Iguanas) does a great vocal turn on the aforementioned "Tide Is High" as the rest of the band soars with hip, almost doo-wop harmonies. Alex McMurray's impassioned take of "Got to Feel It" provides the last third of this CD with an added energy burst that takes this recording to a whole other level.

Although he doesn't sing, guitarist Jonathan Freilich (Naked on the Floor, New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars) certainly makes his presence felt with a varied six-string attack that takes its cues from James Blood Ulmer on some cuts and Ernest Ranglin on others. He and McMurray complement each other well as they lock in on both rhythm and lead parts. -- David Kunian