JB Lenoir: A Natural Man with an Unnatural Beat
There's nothing in the blues like JB Lenoir's Natural Man. You can go through all the Chess, Excello, VeeJay, Sun, sides that you want, and I really doubt you'll ever hear a beat like this. Where did it come from? Lenoir turns the beat inside out and upside down. Breaking all conventions, the drummer smacks the snare on the 1 and the 3 while the rest of the band plays on the usual 2/4. It is chaotic and wonderful.
JB himself is playing a boogie bottom with a horn section riffing along. As for the bass, I'm not sure what is going on there. But somehow it works and hangs together, how, I don't know. Everyone is pretty much playing in a different time signature.
But this was no screw-up. There's many more of these "inside out" 1/3 blues by Lenoir. He must have wanted it this way, and you know, he was right. No one and nothing else sounds like him.
Natural Man
Labels: Blues, Chicago Blues, music, Rhythm
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