Genre(s): New Orleans Jazz; Blues
URL: http://kingsofcrownsville.com

The Kings of Crownsville have earned their title. On “Live at Quiet Waters Park – 2010,” the band delivers a tightly-wound yet spontaneously energetic performance that must’ve had their audience in a trance.

At first, the “Quiet” seemed like a winking reference to the absence of loud applause from the concertgoers; vocalist/guitarist Steve Johnson referring to them as a “tough crowd” in the audio only added validity to that theory. Hopefully, the ecstatic cries of the fans were simply edited out; if not, that “tough crowd” needs a walloping for not fully appreciating this sweltering mélange of jazz, blues, and even country.

“We are the children of dark and light,” exclaims Johnson on the opening cut, “Dark ‘n Light.” Johnson is either referring to mulattos or the multi-racial roots of New Orleans jazz. Either way, the song delights in the balance of the sun and the moon. Pete Miller’s heavy, swaggering bass is offset by the giddy horns, united by the Steely Dan smoothness of Johnson’s coolly detached vocals. There’s a slight reggae tilt in “Dark ‘n Light” as well, giving it that extra spice. Mike McCormick’s rollicking keyboards on “Tanqueray” inject fuel into the track’s easygoing rhythm while the bluesy talk-singing of Johnson recalls Jimi Hendrix’s bold articulation.

There are a handful of covers on “Live at Quiet Waters Park – 2010” but perhaps none better than the Neville Brothers’ “Yellow Moon.” A painfully simmering tale of infidelity and jealousy, “Yellow Moon” is a heartbreaker to begin with. However, McCormick's icy-cold delivery, wherein wounded emotions are clawing at the surface, is a show stopper. The rest of the Kings conjure images of a tropical paradise of his lost love, her adulterous romp tearing into his imagination. One hopes that the audience the Kings played to that night was awed into silence. After all, music as good as this can leave some speechless.