Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

Anyone whose interest in music extends beyond the radio cereal one obtains from listening to the local FM powerhouse is aware that some labels have a genre identity. Elektra, in the early 1960s, was known for its folk music. Blue Note has been a flagship jazz label for several decades; ditto Angel for classical music. It's accordingly somewhat interesting that in the past year the music scene has spawned Lauan which, as it proudly proclaims on its promotional material, is The Jamband Label. Their releases appear, for the most part, to be recordings of live affairs, so the listener gets a pretty accurate feel from the CD for what the bands are all about. They already have an impressive roster of ten bands of varying quality but unflagging enthusiasm, two of which are The Porterhouse Quintet and Larry.

The granddaddy of jambands is usually considered to be The Grateful Dead, who, if truth be known, should actually cohold that title with two other San Franciscan bands, the well-known Jefferson Airplane and the lesser known, but probably equally important, Great Society. It is not happenstance that these bands, and their sound, took root in San Francisco. San Francisco's North Beach in the '50s spawned the Beat movement and with it an acceptance of improvisational, freeform movements from masters such as John Coltrane that could, more often than not, go on for an hour or more. That this freedom should worm its way into the rock scene could have been foreseen and expected. Jazz elements are part of the better jambands, such as Medeski, Martin and Wood and Soulive; others, such as Phish and Blues Traveler, focus more on improvisation from a rock viewpoint, in the manner of the Dead.

Larry comes out of the Grateful Dead school of jamband music; their CD, titled AMONG FRIENDS, is just that, over 70 minutes of high energy, blues-based jamming before a group of obvious fans shouting beery encouragement. Though they feature a harp player (the very capable Rick Cannon), ala Blues Traveler, they manage to eschew the excesses that particular band endless in; while they will get a little too cute for their own good occasionally (abruptly veering into the Dukes of Hazzard Theme in the middle of "Sticky G" and then veering off into Carlos Santana territory is not endearing, not at all) such lapses are the exception rather than the rule. One gets the feeling that Larry might still be searching for its identity. Certainly the band is adept at what they are doing. Their problem at this point is that both their strengths (fine improvisational guitar solos from Tom Watts and Tom Vickers on virtually every track) and weaknesses (a tendency to go on a bit too long at times) are often demonstrated in the same tracks ("Adelita," "The Gift," "Separate Reality"). While Jeff Bradberry's vocals are not especially distinctive, he is certainly able to get the job done, and is the equal of frontmen of jambands of greater stature. No, if there is a problem here, it is that the material is not, at least at this point, the equal of the sum of the talent playing it. The difference between a good song and a great one on AMONG FRIENDS is often just a judicious shaving of two or three minutes here or there.

Larry's fan base is probably going to be limited to the jamband crowd; nothing wrong with that at all. The Proterhouse Quintet, however, appears poised to conquer the same crossover territory as Medeski, Martin & Wood, appealing to fans of not only the jam band and jazz genres but crossing over to rock as well. THUMBS UP LITTLE BUDDY is a purely instrument affair, recorded in the studio as opposed to in concert. It nonetheless has a very live, warts and all feel to it. The aggregation, consisting of sax, trumpet, keyboards, bass, and percussion, look more like the Swingin' Medallions than the Funky Meters, they certainly have their act together. They proudly proclaim on the CD jacket that "no guitars were used in the making of this album;" you'll never miss 'em, either. The glue which seems to hold everything together is trumpet player Derek Sims, who plays in and out and around everyone while maintaining a cohesiveness throughout. Tat is not, however, to slight the other members of the Porterhouse Quartet.

"Marination," featuring Joey Porter's Hammond organ and Josh Cliburne's sax, is a killer track that starts off in an easy funk groove and builds to an improvised peak before settling down to ride into the sunset on another fine, easygoing solo by Sims in call and response solos with Cliburne. "Juicy" and "Steak Sauce Part 1 (bring on the sauce)" (and hey, what happened to Part 2?!) almost sounds like a collaboration between Stevie Wonder and Earth, Wind and Fire, with enough sudden turns and twists to satisfy most jazz aficionados. Porter gets a chance to really stretch out on "Charlotte Russe, " an extended, quietly funky, piano jam that tkaes a Riders on the Storm" groove and melds into a fine, soulful trumpet solo by Sims. The closer, "Neopolitan,"
has a Caribbean-by-way-of-Chicago flavor to it, and brings the CD to a close in fine form, leaving the listener satisfied but still wanting more.

It is hard to tell where the jam band phenomenon will go. Those who predicted it would fade with the passing of the first wave have been proven wrong by several years. Given the presence of Lauan Records, it is more than likely that others will follow in their path. Certainly, however, the Porterhouse Quintet, and, to a lesser extent, Larry, have shown that they cannot only play, but also can stay.