Willard's Wormholes

Grapefruit Moon: The Songs Of Tom Waits (2008)
Surprisingly, LaBamba Is The Star.

Waits… Southside Johnny… LaBamba… as long as you don’t even try to compare these horn-fed renditions to Waits’ own, untouchable recordings, Grapefruit Moon is a blast of a concept. The material itself is a given, and Southside Johnny delivers appropriately, but (Conan O’Brien’s) Richie LaBamba, conducting his own arrangements, is a mind blower. His expansive, sometimes stunning charts are inventive and note-perfect (too perfect for Waits’ World, surely, but fittingly fulfilling). Waits himself shows up to duet on “Walk Away,” while the band shines brightest on material like “Please Call Me Baby” or “New Coat Of Paint,” early Waits tunes that already sported traditional horn arrangements. LaBamba’s boys, however, make these tunes vital and alive, coming on like they’re playing directly from your living room couch. For “Temptation,” the brass hides behind a tensely reserved tango before busting out, bullfight style. Even before it’s over you can sense they’re gonna go Cuban. I’d pay to see these guys in any city’s club. Johnny holds his own, but this album should really be billed, ‘LaBamba’s Big Band w/ Southside Johnny.’ Personally, I believe Conan’s old Late Night theme was, hands down, the best talk show theme song ever. Was LaBamba involved in that, too? Amazon.

Yesterday Is Here (5:29)
Down, Down, Down (4:20)
Walk Away (4:19)
Please Call Me Baby (5:45)
Grapefruit Moon (6:31)
All The Time In The World (5:12)
Tango Till They’re Sore (4:54)
Johnsburg, Illinois (1:51)
New Coat Of Paint (4:41)
Shiver Me Timbers (4:39)
Dead And Lovely (6:49)
Temptation (6:58)