Trading Snake Oil

By '75, Williams had signed with a new label, pieced together a New Tony Williams Lifetime, and moved in a little more conventional jazz-rock direction. But unlike so many fusion records of the time, Believe It managed to be powerful without the bombastic pyrotechnics of bands like Return to Forever.

Although no new ground is covered on The Screamin Cat, Austin-based Omar and the Howlers simply continue to forge ahead, creating another energetic blues and boogie disc. Luckily, the Howlers have never stuck to one style of blues; they aren't purists, which allows plenty of room for a hopped-up mixture of swamp blues, Memphis soul, roots rock, and whatever else it takes to get their audience moving. Their party ethics are personified on The Screamin Cat by songs like "Party Girl," "Steady Rock," "Snake Oil Doctor," and the title track. Lead guitarist Omar Dykes' gravelly Howlin Wolf roar remains intact while Howler musical duties are shared by Bruce Jones on bass (three tracks); Rick Chilleri on drums (one track); Malcolm "Papa Mali" Welbourne on guitar, B-3, and bass; and B.E. "Frosty" Smith on drums, percussion, B-3, and Fender Rhodes.

Mississippi-born but Texas-based Omar Kent Dykes understands a fundamental fact about the blues. He knows there are only a handful of rhythms and themes in the blues grab bag, and he uses them all over and over again in slightly different guises, which is far from a bad thing. It is the fundamental conservatism of the blues and its limited palette that has kept the form alive long after its colorful offspring (R&B, soul, rock & roll, etc.) flew the roost, taking a large part of the audience with them. But Omar understands all this. He has had a 30-year career playing these rhythms, and he knows how to keep it all simple, direct, and powerful, and how to build new songs out of the fabric of the old songs without destroying their familiarity.

Progressive jazz-rock-instrumental, An explosion of guitars, keyboards, percussion, bass in a conundrum of sounds that requires attentive listening but entertaining. This is Jazz from Purgatory. If you fancy Zappa's avant garde's instrumental excursion, then you'll enjoy this one too. Another hidden gem.