A Picture of Juice: An Interview with Dave Jordan

by Chip Schramm

If there is any one city that can be synonymous with funk and jazz musicianship, it is certainly New Orleans. Trends come and go on the national music landscape, but the streets and stages of the Big Easy seem to retain the influences of their elder musicians and regenerate them through younger players as they rise up through the ranks. Any serious band coming out of Louisiana will have to address the roles that other musicians play and face up to comparisons with other groups, past and present. Just as Galactic has often earned comparisons with the Meters, New Orleans' Juice borrows influence from other native troubadours, and mixes that with their own creative style. Though comparisons can often be unfair and inaccurate, in this case, a comparison can be seen as a bit of a compliment. Juice is a young five-piece funk band that simply oozes soul and radiates energy in a live environment. They mix traditional songs with their own original compositions to create a fun and infectious brand of dance music. At a typical Juice show you can see men and women of all ages, colors and dispositions dancing alongside each other, having a grand time.

As is often the case with young bands in the developmental stage, Juice has picked up and lost a few members here and there. Other musicians like keyboard player Chris Spies have also shared the stage with them on a regular basis, though he isn't an official member of the band. As is also the New Orleans tradition, they cross-over and jam with so many other funk and jazz players, that most of them ended up on the band's latest release, "Fortified." Groups like All That and Iris May Tango share the same inspired, unselfish attitude about music and performance, so it should be no surprise that they all end up supporting each other and the spirit of improvisational music.

The current lineup on tour right now features founding member Dave Jordan on bass and vocals, Jamie Galloway on Harmonica and vocals, Jason Sellers on Saxophone, Aron Lambert on drums, and Chris Nolte on guitar. Each has taken their own unique path leading them to the place they are today. Jordan has been the de-facto bandleader since 1995, and also does some free-lance music journalism on the side. Galloway is a renowned chef in one of the most culinary literate cities in the world, cooking at both Commander's Palace and Jacques-Imo's at one time. Sellers is originally from Casper, Wyoming and moved to New Orleans to enroll at the unparalleled University of New Orleans Jazz Studies Program where he was a pupil of Ellis Marsalis and many other jazz greats. Lambert is a New Orleans native whose family originally opened the famed Preservation Hall. Nolte is the newest member of the group. He hails from way down south in Key West, Florida and brings a healthy dose of enthusiasm to the lineup.

I last saw New Orleans' Juice perform at the Taphouse in Memphis on June 8th. They played to an unusually packed house for a Thursday night. What impressed me the most about that evening was the fact that many patrons who had only come to eat dinner and have a few drinks after work ended up staying to dance the night away. I was told later that soul legend Rufus Thomas was amongst those in attendance. I had the chance to speak with Dave Jordan for a few minutes during a break in-between their three sets. Excerpts from that interview follow.

For additional information about the band visit neworleansjuice.com

C: A lot of the songs that you play in Juice are the roots of the music that makes up the New Orleans sound. It's easy to draw comparisons with other bands, with the Meters being the obvious choice a lot of the time. What would you say distinguishes what Juice is doing right now from a lot of the other bands in New Orleans?

D: That's a good question. With a lot of the bands in New Orleans, if you're really gonna go down there and soak it up, you all have a similar starting point. Are you asking about some of the newer band coming out right now or the older bands?

C: Either. Both.

D: With the newer bands, well we sing. A lot of the newer bands come out a play lot of instrumental stuff, funk and jazz, but they don't really sing. We sing. The instrumentation is also different. The harmonica adds another dimension to the whole deal. I think all the bands that come out of New Orleans are completely different. I don't think we are any more different or any less different than anybody else. You take Iris May Tango and they don't sound anything like us, but they're still mixing jazz and funk and hip-hop and rock. We're doing the same sort of thing. All That is doing the same with hip-hop and the brass. Galactic obviously is the most well known band of the younger genre, if you can call it that [laughs]. We get a lot of comparisons with Galactic, but I don't think that's too accurate. To me we're a lot harder-edged. We're a rock-and-roll band.

As far as differentiation from older groups, we have a lot of Dr. John influence. I bring that into a lot of the music that I create. That's nothing to try and hide. Even though he was a keyboard player and we don't currently have a pianist in the band, things Dr. John wrote and performed had a huge influence on the New Orleans funk sound.

C: How did you guys get together as a group? I know you are the man who had the original vision for the band.

D: The band that we've been touring with and the band that's going now, the drummer and the guitarist have only been with us since August. Juice as a concept has been there for about 5 years. Some of the songs have been around that long, some have been around longer, from a band I was in previously. We used to play a lot more. One of the curses and one of the blessings for me personally is that the band has gone through a lot of members. As far as permanent members go, we've haven't had many. We've had every reason you could imagine for guys quitting. Everything you've seen on VH1, it's all happened. One of the good things for me is that we've gotten to play with some really diverse players, people who bring really different concepts to the songs that I write.

C: Do you write most of the material that you perform?

D: Yes I do, up to now. At the same time, this particular lineup has only been together since August. The Sax player brought in a few tunes, the guitar has one we haven't started playing yet. When you play as much live as we are, we really don't rehearse. We've practiced together a few times, but we're on the road and we learn shit during soundcheck, to the chagrin of soundmen everywhere.

C: How many of you are from New Orleans originally?

D: I've been there since 3rd grade.

C: Close enough.

D: Our drummer grew up in the French Quarter. Our harmonica player is from Alexandria, about 45 minutes away. He's lived in New Orleans for about 6 or 7 years. He and I are the only 2 left, but he wasn't even really an original member. We were the product of another couple of bands that distilled themselves into Juice. But it really isn't bad, you know. We've had 4 guitar players in the group and they've all been fantastic. They've all been completely different from each other. We had one sit in with us last week at the House of Blues with Little Feat and play some slide. Now he's playing guitar for All That. It all comes full circle in New Orleans.

C: That's kind of the thing I notice about the scene down there. You'll expand and pick up a new member as other members move on to other things.

D: If you're going to be a bandleader in New Orleans, which is essentially what I am, you have to learn to deal with that. Now for the past 9-10 months, the lineup has been set and it is set. This is the project, this is what we're going for. We're riding with it, we're touring with it. This is what we're going for.

C: Do you feel any pressure to perform when you're in town night after night? Does the competition ever cross your mind or do you just go out and play?

D: Yeah, I do, honestly I do. There's so many good players that are my age or younger. The respect around New Orleans is incredible. They all check each other out and see what's going on. I wouldn't say there's never competition, but there's never animosity in the competition. A lot of people are like "I don't want anybody to come up on stage because they might show me up." In New Orleans, somebody might come up onstage and teach you something. That's the difference. You've gotta drop the ego if you play in New Orleans. You have to or else you're screwed. There are guys who have been playing their stuff for 70 years!

C: I know all of you have other things on the side apart from the band. You do some writing and Jamie used to cook at Jacques-Imo's, for example. Do you think having these other experiences makes it easier to put the music in perspective.

D: It might. I mean we all have lives outside of what we do. I have a family. I have a son, I'm married. I wouldn't say it validates us. Jamie went to culinary school and then picked music. Jason studied jazz at UNO and could do whatever he wants. Most music programs in the country are classical programs. They don't teach jazz. What they have at UNO is very unique. Ellis Marsalis (Branford is his father) is the director. All the Batistes are there. The Batistes are the biggest family involved.

C: I know you have big tour plans for the summer. You doing a run up the East Coast, then you're heading back out west for a second time. Are you looking forward to being back on the road?

D: Definitely. Tonight is actually the first night of the tour for us, so we're getting broken back in. The East Coast run should be good for us. We're going to be hitting some new venues and seeing some new territory as well. We have all the tourdates on our new website. As far as the western tour goes, we'll be going back to Colorado for 2 weeks. Then we'll hit Utah and Jackson Hole. If everything works out, we'll go from Seattle down the West Coast sharing the bill with the Rebirth Brass Band. That hasn't been confirmed just yet, but it should be soon.

C: If you could write you own promo for an upcoming gig, what would it say to people?

D: Hmmm.. Well, basically we're a fun, party band. We play music you can dance to. Of course the main point of the way we play is to force people to dance. We'll lay a groove thick enough that you'd feel silly sitting down and just watching. We incorporate plenty of funk, jazz and R&B sounds, but it all fits within the framework of our rock-and-roll style. I'd say come out and see Juice if you like to shake your bones and enjoy good music.

The Puerto-Rican Rum Drunks
Young Ave. Deli - Saturday, May 13, 2000

By Mike Spence

A funny thing happened on my way to see one of our town's favorite Panic/Phish cover bands (Yes, they play both.) This month at the Young Avenue Deli in the beautiful crime free Historic Cooper-Young District in MidTown Memphis, I heard an opening band that made me forget I came to see someone else AND made me feel good. I mean a whole different state of mind.

To be quite honest the only reason I got to the show early was because I feared a Lorena Bobbit incident was impending at my house, and I REALLY needed a couple of drinks. My state of mind was especially melancholy that evening thanks to the latest diatribe from my roommate/demonic-possessed girlfriends' lips concerning my slothful and evidently worthless existence. So Hey! What's a guy to do when he sees a band named Del Rendon and the Rum Drunks opening for Bathtub Gin: show up early and ask for a Long Island Iced Tea.

The Rum Drunks put a smile on my face and started toes to tapping at the bar from the sound check, "Feelin' Alright," on through their 11 song set. The place got to rocking and grabbed the attention of the entire house, especially the members of Bathtub Gin who were soaking in the Rum. Starting the set off with a funky Bill Withers' "Use Me" with lead singer Del Rendon on acoustic guitar, they then moved on to their own tune "An Arsonist Like Me" and another original "Malaise." That showcased their North Mississippi sound echoing Beanland and Kudzu King pickin', reminding everyone we have our "up's and doubts", the crowd began to realize even though no one had ever heard of these cats, people started moving their feet, yes, and clapping their hands! Despite the name, the Drunks were Damn Good players who had the balls to come out jammin' on somebody else's home court.

Del Rendon's crooning vocals rang crisply thought the joint, reminiscent of John Popper minus 200 pounds and complementing the Fernando Aloisi's Latin influenced electric and 12 String guitar accompaniment. Mark Goldbeck provided a deft touch not only on organ and piano, but with some cool synth as the Drunks played, of all things, a spine-tingling version of "A Day in the Life". "Chameleon" the title track to their debut CD showcased Rendon's tender vocals as he begs to be "just like you" and "Flowers" had heavy overtones of WSP and Allman Bro's jamming with strong performances by Michael Freed on drums and Lee Graham playing a grinding bass guitar. These were my two personal favorites both live and on their CD. The Drunks revealed more of their musical influences with a haunting "Pigs On the Wing", a soulful "Sexual Healing" as their tribute to R&B and once again Rendon's power and range on vocals urged the ladies in the crowd to "wake-up" because he got sick this morning. Closing the show was a grungy Hendrix, "Spanish Dreams." The joint was jumpin' by the the last note of Santana's "Evil Ways," which reminded me of what brought me out in the first place. Lord knows she's got to change.

Hailing from Starkville, MS the Rum Drunks are top-shelf. Their CD Chameleon is available on Hep-Tone Fidelity Records. You can check them out yourself at http://www.rumdrunks.com or hopefully at a town near you soon. It's always nice to be surprised.

Jubilee Jam - Jackson, MS

by Mike Jones

Well the second half of May I found myself at Jubilee Jam in Jackson, MS again. Closing out one of the stages on Sunday night was none other than Gov't. Mule. Those guys tore it up too. I stood amazed just watching them play. I don't even remember what songs they were but they jammed two songs out hitting somewhere between 20-30 minutes and it was nothing but music. Hell, Warren didn't have to sing at all anyway, he was letting his guitar do the talking. If for some strange reason you still haven't seen this band live, get up and go found out where they are playing right now and get to one of their shows! On a more regional note, on another stage closing out the night were Hattiesburg, Mississippi's own, King Konga. These guys came ready to play, despite a mediocre crowd. Jackson is notorious for having a low turnout at any music event and this day was no exception. It probably didn't help that the stage was running about an hour or two late either. At any rate, King Konga played another blistering set, full of energy, smiles, and great music. The band's new material is really starting to take shape and the new album should be out early in the fall. I believe this will be the album that takes these guys to the next level. The songwriting on the new material isn't just the best King Konga material I've heard, it's just some of the best I've heard from anywhere!

Also helping close out the night were Tuscaloosa, Alabama's own Hannaward Pass (formerly Elijah Blue). Due to scheduling conflicts early the next morning. I was unable to stay for all of their set. They didn't take the stage until a little after 11pm on Sunday night. According to the festival schedule, that's when they were supposed to be done and gone. So if you are looking for a highly coordinated festival, don't come to Jackson's Jubilee Jam.