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Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom

Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom is an irrepressible group mixing jazz, blues, funk, Latin and soul music in a heady brew that really grooves. Multi-instrumentalist Levy, whose resume includes stints with Albert and BB King, Charles Brown, Roomful of Blues, ReBirth Brass Band, Lowell Fulsom, Ronnie Earl, Charles Earland, The Wild Magnolias and Pucho and the Latin Soul Brothers, brings all his experience to the fore on Voodoo Boogaloo, playing Hammond B-3 organ, piano, vibes, basses, and a variety of electronic keyboards, in addition to composing and arranging all the music on the date. Joined by long-time Wild Kingdom regulars Melvin Sparks, the father of acid jazz, and jam band master saxist Karl Denson. Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom lets loose with some of the most soulful music on the planet today.

The opening "Organ Colossus" is a funky jungle strutting feature for Levy's B-3, clavinet and electric bass and "Sax" Gordon's tenor with the Wild Kingdom percussion section of Adrome "Acidman" MacHine's drums, Yahuba Garcia's congas, and Russ Lawton's bells cooking up a storm. The music is reminiscent of the classic R & B of Booker T and the MG's, the sixties soul of Stevie Wonder, the electrifying black rock of Sly and the Family Stone and the AfroPop of Manu Dibango all at the same time.

"Voodoo Boogaloo" showcases Levy's vibes on a Latin line in the Cal Tjader tradition that's jazzed up with a swinging Milestones-inspired bridge. Garcia's timbales and congas and Lawton's percussion spice up the mix with some salsa Picante, while Karl Denson soars on flute over Gordon's beefy baritone sax. Melvin Sparks lets fly with a classic guitar solo, quoting "Moanin'", "Tequila", and "Softly As A Morning Sunrise", backed by Levy's relentlessly grooving B-3.

Drum and bass open up the soulful ballad "Love Retoined" with Jeff Lockhart's guitar sharing the spotlight with Levy's organ and electric piano. Shades of Isaac Hayes meets Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes.

"Better Save Yo'seff" is jazzy New Orleans styled rhythm and blues with "Sax" Gordon blowing shotgun tenor over "Acidman" MacHine's funky beat, bolstered by Lawton's tambourine. Levy settles into a comfortable Big Easy groove and stays right there, allowing Lockhart to get down with some great guitar gumbo.

Levy's "Spy On The Fly" is his take off on sixties' Quincy Jones cop show soundtracks, complete with sirens, string synthesizers and smokin' Sax. The leader's busy hands stay full on this one, soloing on vibes and B-3 while wielding his full arsenal of keyboards in the background.

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Album Review

Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom: Voodoo Boogaloo

Read "Voodoo Boogaloo" reviewed by John Kelman


In a career that dates back nearly 35 years, keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Ron Levy has carried the banner for blues and soul-drenched jazz. He got his feet wet as a more straightforward blues player in B.B. King's band in the '70s, recording half a dozen albums and touring incessantly, as well as playing with other seminal artists including Lowell Fulson, Earl King and Luther “Guitar Jr. Johnson. But beginning in '85, Levy started a series of recordings with his ever-shifting group Wild ...

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