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Calling someone music royalty sets the bar impossibly high. But there are times when it\u2019s unavoidable. There\u2019s really no other way to accurately describe George Porter Jr. His bass guitar and vocals are inextricably entwined with the work and reputation of New Orleans funk heroes The Meters. Since 1990 Porter has led another group, Runnin\u2019 Pardners. Across nearly a dozen albums, the group bridges The Meters\u2019 sound with something even a bit more expansive.<\/p>\n
Tasty grooves, strong melodies and some deep, deep funk are the key ingredients in Crying for Hope<\/em>. The instrumental \u201cPorter 13A\u201d is a representative track, with every instrument offering something memorable. The analog synth lines splashed across the tune add appeal to an already irresistible cut.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Ladder\u201d is as laid-back as \u201cPorter 13A\u201d is spirited. Subtle dialogue between Michael H. Lemmler\u2019s Rhodes and Chris Adkins\u2019 lean, spare lead guitar lines form the core of the track, but the rock-solid, assured and understated rhythm section of Porter and drummer Terrence T. Houston holds it all together. Not until the song\u2019s second half do the massed vocals come in, chanting a phrase several times until it becomes an hypnotic mantra. <\/p>\n The album is divided into three \u201csides,\u201d and each has its own character, subtly different from the others. Side B\u2019s highlight is the soulful workout \u201cCloud Funk,\u201d with keyboard and guitar work so sparkling you\u2019ll look over your shoulder to check if the players are in your home. Everyone involved is on fire, but Lemmler seems the busiest, layering two and sometimes three keyboard parts onto each tune. Yet the overall feel is always perfectly in balance, never overstuffed, never overplayed. And at the center of it all, there\u2019s always Porter, laying down slabs of thunder on cuts like \u201cWanna Get Funky,\u201d a number far more imaginative than its title. <\/p>\n Side C opens with \u201cJust Start Groovin\u2019,\u201d a tune that will take you back to the late-late \u201870s in the best possible way. \u201cTaste of the Truth\u201d is among the most rifftastic cuts on Crying for Hope<\/i>; it\u2019s also one of the best on a consistently strong record. <\/p>\n Plenty of artists are past their prime by their 70s, but they still have plenty to give in live performance, cranking out their classics. Porter didn\u2019t get that memo: his work in 2021 is as enduring as anything in his back catalog. Crying for Hope<\/i> is a triumph. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Calling someone music royalty sets the bar impossibly high. But there are times when it\u2019s unavoidable. There\u2019s really no other way to accurately describe George Porter Jr. His bass guitar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21294,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,49,65],"tags":[4594,2892],"class_list":["post-21293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-funk","category-new-release","category-review","tag-geoge-porter-jr","tag-the-meters","cat-31-id","cat-49-id","cat-65-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21293"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21295,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21293\/revisions\/21295"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}