Back That Jazz Up

With all the disparate influences Sonorous has in its lexis, the percentages of what you're going to get (and when) are always in flux, and this clashing of expectations constitutes the best moments on the group's second CD, recorded "live" to tape during two successive nights at the Lost Leaf Gallery. The middle ground between rock and traditional jazz is usually supplied by Matt Yazzie (on hyped-up organ and War-torn Eric Burdon bleating) and guitarist Chris Doyle's wah wah wailing. This leads to such jumbled creations as "Trainslaw" (part Coltrane, part Hendrix's "Third Stone from the Sun") and "Chris' Theme," which would fit comfortably on side three of the Shaft soundtrack. Somewhat less impressive are those numbers in which Sonorous just sounds like a seasoned bar band. But you can't fault a band for wanting to goof off. Even when they do, they manage to come up with a crowd-pleaser like "Hairy Legs," a great, offensive, furry-gams blues song Andre Williams never got around to. "I see those wool socks pulled up/Oh, baby, let's just hope they're wool."
Sun., Nov. 16, 9 p.m., 2008