Having cut an album of
standards
on his first
Warner Brothers
album,
In a Sentimental Mood
(1989),
Dr. John
turned for its follow-up to a collection of New Orleans
. On an album he described in the liner notes as "a little history of New Orleans music,"
returned to his hometown and set up shop at local
Ultrasonic Studios
, inviting in such local musicians as
Pete Fountain
,
Al Hirt
, and
the Neville Brothers
and addressing the music and styles of such local legends as
Jelly Roll Morton
Huey "Piano" Smith
Fats Domino
James Booker
Professor Longhair
. The geography may have been circumscribed, but the stylistic range was extensive, from
jazz
and
blues
to
folk
rock
. And it was all played with festive conviction --
is the perfect archivist for the music, being one of its primary proponents, yet he had never addressed it quite as directly as he did here. ~ William Ruhlmann