Dr. John

In his latest endeavour, Anutha Zone, the good doctor has returned in high spirits. Deeper, richer, and more poignant with sound and soul than ever, he brings us his spicy Louisiana recipe of funk, Creole, blues, and everything else under the sun. He revisits historical spaces in musical time, feeding off his own past, legacies of the ages, all earthly rhythm, and riddles of the universe.

On Anutha Zone, Dr. John is joined by several British contemporary artists. For “John Gris” and “Hello God,” he invites the band Spiritualized, stirring in a cosmic, psychedelic flavor, via Jason Pierce on “space guitar,” Ravi Freeman on berimbao, and textured with the voices of The London Community Gospel Choir. “I Don’t Wanna Know” is fluently bonded by the Hammond organ of Joos Holland.

Paul Weller – no stranger to Dr. John’s music, having had a hit in England covering Dr. John’s “Guilded Splinters,” in 1996 guests as well. Together with bass player Damon Minchella of Ocean Colour Scene, they weave a haunting plea of “Party Hellfire,” a bitter sweet ballad.

Dr. John is also joined by drummer Clive Deamer, of Portishead, members of Primal Scream, Supergrass, The Beta Band, and Kick Horns in the making of “Sweet Home New Orleans,” and “Voices In My Head,” as well as his own American band, The Lower 911, throughout the recording, on songs such as ” Ki Ya Gris Gris,” “The Olive Tree,” and “I Like Ki Yoka.” This event is truly a gumbo of autonomous musical talent, brought together to reach one common denominator “music of a whole nutha zone.”

The Night Tripper explains in his own tongue, the feeling of this unique album: “In the resin beneath the damp foundations, sinking deeper into the coffeegrounds of Mississippi River mud through to Seven Sisters Bayou, floats the soulful warrior’s blood. Lahsa, Tibet, at 29 North, 90 East, running straight through the planet core, emerging at 29 North, 90 West, up through the wet low land extremities, back to New Orleans, Louisiana. You are here.

“Extra terrestrial music of the spheres fills every crawfish carnival, as church hellfire funeral processions ease down past darkened, laid back lookouts, passing the sacred spaces of Kiwa Kiya. Gris Gris and Orisha. The voices in my head…the Yoruba, the Choctaw. Droning, lunar ballads of crocodile sing a swamp lullaby to the dance of the Sufi. I bid “Hello God, Allah, Jesus, Christo, Buddah, Shiva, Sun Ra, and to all crickets, coons, critters, and gold Grammies that glitter. “From the cool ivory white cap keys to the richest of ebony woods, good to the last guilded splinter, springs life from the Gottchalks classics, to the Jellyrolls of jazz, where the long haired professor stood before the class. And through the Carribanized, cannabilized Holy Grail wall, the Hungarians shuffled, bearing gifts from the Spirit Kingdom.

“I don’t wanna know about evil. Only the delicate balance of anutha zone, way past the Shapaka Shawee, more ancient than the olive tree. Before Rosacrucian mysteries, or Freemason vesteries. Up through the trembling roots as deep as the moss drenched Oak and Cypress trees.”

Born in New Orleans on November 21, 1940, as Malcolm Rebennack, Dr. John began playing the piano at the age of 6. Mac’s first record date as a musician was at 14, coinciding with his job at Ace Records, as the world’s youngest A & R man. In the mid fifties, an A & R man’s responsibilities were to find an artist, write the material, hire the musicians, cut and master the records, all for $60 a week. This early experience brought him countless sessions with the likes of Shirley and Lee, Joe Tex, Frankie Ford of “Sea Cruise” fame, and with his personal mentor, Professor Longhair.

In Los Angeles, during the sixties, he worked with Sonny & Cher, Frank Zappa, Phil Spector, and many others. The initial Gris Gris album, which established the cryptic Dr. John persona, was cut secretly on Sonny & Cher’s studio time. It was here, that Mac assimilated the alter ego of “The Night Tripper,” Archbishop of his own recipe of R & B, psychedelia swamp rock, and blues.

The Seventies brought a top 10 hit, “Right Place, Wrong Time,” on the Sun, Moon, and Herbs album, on the Atlantic subsidiary Atco. He could also be found working and recording with talents such as Allan Toussaint, The Rolling Stones, Van Morrison, The Meters, John Paul Hammond, and Bob Dylan.

Dr. John strayed from the image of his past with the 1980’s release of an interpretation of the classics, Sentimental Mood, spawning a Grammy duet along with Ricky Lee Jones, “Makin’ Whoopee.” The 90’s produced another Grammy winning effort, Goin’ Back to New Orleans, a colorful tribute to his roots in New Orleans. Afterglow, another collection of delicious classics, was released in 1995.