*** The Rockin' Jake Band

LET'S GO GET 'EM

(Rabadash)

A New Orleans resident for the past five years, former New England bluesman Larry "Rockin' Jake" Jacobs has jettisoned his infatuation with late great Chicago blues harp ace Little Walter and forged a personality that's equal parts Crescent City R&B, pop, jazz, and gospel. On "Secret Name," Chip Wilson's relaxed singing and Jake's incisive harmonica ride a gentle swell of soca-funk rhythm from drummer Earl J. Smith Jr. and bassist Angelo Nocentelli (brother of Meters guitarist Leo Nocentelli). On the original "Attracted to the Light," guest vocalists Cornell Williams and Maria Muldaur display persuasive fealty to their higher power while Jake and band lend urgent yet understated pop-blues agreement. Jake's chromatic harp illuminates the Meters' "Sophisticated Cissy," where Meters bassist George Porter Jr. himself takes over from Nocentelli. Jake makes good use of two Big Easy bossmen: Tommy Ridgley sings stirringly on the finger-snappin' "Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky" and Eddie Bo contributes piano to the straight-ahead blues fun of "Paradise Ride."

-- Frank-John Hadley