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Luther Russell has gotten all down and dirty on your ass. On his first Cravedog Records solo release, "Down At Kit's," Russell has taken a startling detour from his songwriter/storyteller path to offer up eleven tracks of pure love in the form of soul drenched, R n' B- propelled funk numbers. As they say in jazz, it's the notes that don't get played that sing out the strongest. On the instrumental-only, "Down At Kit's," it's the words that stay unsaid that tell the tales with such clarity and articulation. Stripped back to the basic elements of bass, drums, guitar and keys (all tracks written, performed, produced, recorded and engineered by Luther, thank you very much), the CD walks and talks its own jive sort of lingo with a butt-shaking and slightly greasy vocabulary. Believe it- you can't fake this kind of funk for love or money. "Down At Kit's," could be the soundtrack to an imaginary Blaxploitation flick. It could be on heavy jukebox rotation in a particularly badass ghetto cocktail lounge. It could be the unholy offspring of War, Booker T and the M.G.'s, Ennio Morricone and Curtis Mayfield. It could easily be the grooviest, old-school-funkiest album you've heard in a long time. The muscular hyperbole, extended metaphors and colorful descriptions are only going to take us so far in discussing, "Down At Kit's." Okay, so we think it's funky as hell, so we think Luther is brilliant, so we think it's going to be huge, so what? Let's try this- you give it a listen, decide for yourself and tell us what you think. We don't think you'll be disappointed. Luther Russell is the frontman for the current Geffen act Federale (also featuring Marc Ford of the Black Crowes and Jimi Bott of the Fabulous Thunderbirds) and was the leader for the former Geffen band The Freewheelers (some of whom make suprise appearances on this recording). A Portland transplant from the California Southland, his self-released folk-blues album "Lowdown World" garnered rave reviews and made the Rocket's year-end list of top albums in 1997. He's also a producer of note, with his most current credit on the knobs being the third Richmond Fontaine Album, "Lost Son." His previous Cravedog Records contributions include Fernando Viciconte's latest, the critically acclaimed "Old Man Motel". Last year saw Luther produce Fernando's 1998 Rock-En-Espanol disc, "Pacoima", the first of its kind to go #1 in the northwest. From the snapping soul thunder of, "Fried Bananas," that opens the CD to the playful and seductive Stan Getz-like vibe of, "Babette Goes To Delaware," which puts the whole mess to bed, "Down At Kit's," is a stone cold groove from start to finish. Bank on it, baby. Check out the artist's website: http://www.cravedog.com/cravedoglabel9-29-03/index.html Track List: 1. Fried Banana 2. Chicken Pox 3. Keohen's Theme 4. Strange Auction 5. Fernando's Redemption 6. Vista del Mar at Franklin 7. Line No. Thirty-Seven 8. Trick Question 9. 50/50 Bar Blues 10. Flaco's Gatorade Stand 11. El Intermedio 12. Babeile Goes to Delaware Suggested CDs:Other Genres:
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