Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound - General Admission Dance Party June 18, 2010

Paul Cebar has been a primary investigator and promulgator of funky Afro-Carib-inflected Americana since the ‘80's.... Cebar stays vital, putting his good foot forward from Green Bay to Baltimore to the Big Easy. -TOM CHEYNEY, LA WEEKLY

Jubilant, percussive... full-on, pan-ethnic party music. -PAMELA MURRAY WINTERS, WASHINGTON POST

Some regionalists are dreamers, and while this group of rhythm rounders is situated in Wis- consin, their hearts are somewhere in the fifth ward of New Orleans. They put a lively spin on all sorts of American strains, from second-line to funk to zydeco and they do it with a load of whimsy. -JIM MACNIE, THE VILLAGE VOICE

PAUL CEBAR has steadfastly pursued a musical concatenation that is one part early R&B, another Pan-African Lilt, Afro-Cuban by way of New Orleans Slither, qualified by Mid-Western Soul and further distinguished by a gargan- tuan regard for spoken English.

TOMMOROW SOUND NOW FOR YES MUSIC PEOPLE, the newest addition to the Cebar catalog, boasts both the open-hearted spontaneous soulful- ness we've come to expect from this dedicated musician (Who Can Love Who?, The Same Dog, Marv's Fluttering Guitar, I'm Qualified) and wild- headed, crazyquilt conjuring (Knock It To Me, Like A Gentleman Oughta, Spread That Sugar) that feels like a bold contemporary invigoration of the inviting verities he has always explored. There's the meaty Hey Hey Honey, a delightful a capella nod to Alan Lomax and his recording of Norfolk's Bright Lights Quartet, a tender tribute to Sierra Leone's King of Palmwine Music, S.E. Rogie in his Do Me Justice, and Paul's glorious homage to guitarist Marv Tarplin, Smokey Robinson's right hand man for the last 40 years, Marv's Flut- tering Guitar. Add the classic New Orleans swagger of I Got Trouble (replete with Cebar's Jessie Hill-inspired tambourine machinations) and the storming plea for tenderness The Gimp Sparrow (richly reflecting the influence of Paul's travels in Cuba, Brazil and Trinidad), and it's clear that this is a romp of colossal heart and scope.

The years since the release of the last studio album have been spent touring continu- ally and intensifying the fervor with which Cebar has always infused his music. The guitar tones have taken on an edgier, more distinctive concision. Longtime cohort Bob Jennings comes to the fore on organ and horns in his sneakily apt and piquant less-is-more-ism. Drummer Reggie Bordeaux is simply a stone joy throughout lifting all and sundry to new heights of funk and drive. Bassist Patrick Patterson lays it low and mean in a thoroughly righteous display of bone-deep musicality. Percussionist Romero Beverly insinuates, articulates and pitches a veritable storm (witness Her New Church why don'tcha!!).

From the Hot Chocolate meets Latin Playboys skank of How'd You Get Like That? to the stately Muscle Shoals balladry of I'm Qualified, featuring Nick Lowe's brotherly back-up vocals, TOMMOROW SOUND NOW FOR YES MUSIC PEOPLE is the best batch yet of of an endangered strain of fortified, intensi- fied, fully jacked-up, roaring and exceedingly personal music-making from a singular Midwestern master. It may be time for all sorts of things, but it is high time for Paul Cebar. He has been, is, and will be the real doggone deal.

http://www.paulcebar.com/
http://www.myspace.com/paulcebartommorowsound

Official Website: http://www.jamminjava.com/