Response Records

“Once in a while you get shone the light; in the strangest of places if you look at it right.” From “Scarlet Begonias”; words by Robert Hunter

And talk about the strangest of places: who’d have thought that Louisiana would be the spawning ground for the some of the most soulful and groove-infused tunes to come out of the post-Jerry Dead world? ‘Tis true, though, boys and girls: Bill Kreutzmann has himself a killer “swampadelic” band here, and their new self-titled debut 7 Walkers is living proof.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt one bit that The Bard himself is behind this thing. That’s right – Robert Hunter provided most of the lyrics for 7 Walkers and Kreutzmann’s bandmate, guitarist/vocalist/right-hand mystic man Papa Mali proved to be the perfect receiver/transmitter for the vibes Hunter was laying down.

Kudos to Reed Mathis, who plays bass on the bulk of the album. Mathis was certainly equal to the task – and it’s a tribute to his talents that it took George Porter Jr. to replace him. Porter – whose presence sealed the deal on 7 Walkers’ touring lineup – sits in for only one cut on the album, but it’s a piece of work. “Chingo!” is 7-minutes-and-20-seconds’-worth of spiraling rhythms, rum-soaked hoo-doo, and darkly-lit Hunter scenes that swirl and dance around Papa Mali’s growls and Porter’s swooping bass lines. And while we’re talking about “Chingo!”: that ghostly melody that sounds like the pipes of Pan? Why that’s Matt Hubbard on the recorder, messing with your mind. A true multi-instrumentalist, Hubbard is all over 7 Walkers with everything from cool keyboard and harp to half-shitfaced-and-beautiful trombone as needed. It’s his reaches over the shoulder with flecks of funk and sachets of sound that put the band’s sound over the top.

As mentioned, Papa Mali is the element that fuses together the diverse-sounding elements behind this band together. Here we have a blonde-dreadlocked one-of-a-kind bluesman who knows how to combine surf guitar, world rhythms, swamp funk, and big ol’ dollops of jam in a tasty gumbo that sounds other-worldly and warmly familiar at the same time. (Believe me, though: you’ve never heard anything like 7 Walkers before.) Whether it was a matter of him getting inside Robert Hunter’s lyrics or Hunter writing to fit his soul, it doesn’t matter – Papa Mali delivers the goods on 7 Walkers, if he’s singing about a stolen heart (“Sue From Bogalusa”), outlaw swagger (“King Cotton Blues”), or soaking-wet gators (“Louisiana Rain”). And an extra tip of the hat to Papa Mali: “Someday You’ll See” is his from beginning to end – words, music, guts, feathers, and all – and it nestles right in amongst the Hunter-penned tunes quite nicely.

And what about Billy the K? Well, boys and girls, this is the sound of a rhythm god having the time of his life. Put an ear to “Evangeline”, for instance: just his cymbal work tells a story all by itself. Or “Hey Bo Diddle”, whose rhythm could’ve easily lapsed into a straight “Not Fade Away” thang, but instead takes off on some wild-ass second-line New Orleans beat and never looks back. Whether it’s the challenge of the setting, the vibe of his bandmates, or a little of both with some voodoo on the side, there’s more life in Bill Kreutzmann’s playing on 7 Walkers than we’ve heard in a long, long time.

And that’s a good, good thing.