Two new albums that bust out of the groove

By D.S. Martin and ChristianWeek | July 4, 2008

NEWWORLDSON—SALVATION STATION
Born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Newworldson is a unique quartet that's getting a lot of attention on both sides of the border—and a lot of attention in both Christian and secular circles.

Just take a look at their summer itinerary and you'll see they're playing every Tuesday night in July at Toronto's Orbit Room, opening for James Brown at Nathan Phillips Square, opening for Casting Crowns, playing the (secular) Ottawa Blues Festival and the (Christian) Cornerstone and Kingdom Bound festivals plus doing shows from St. Catherines, Ontario to Monterey, California.

This is gospel party music—high energy soul music that is so true to its roots that no one can complain about its message. Those roots are hinted at in the band's name. It's a musical blend developed in this hemisphere—rock, jazz, blues, soul and gospel—using elements brought here from Europe and Africa.

Principal vocalist Joel Parisien centres the band's sound with his pulsing keyboards. Both bassist Rich Moore and guitarist Joshua Franklin Toal add vocals, and Mark Rogers is a strong drummer who keeps this tight quartet moving.

Lyrically the songs are simple, like camp-meeting gospel, with a style that fits. When Parisien sings, "There's a train leaving from Calvary and it's goin' to salvation station," the band really rocks. It may make you think of a fast-paced "This Train is Bound For Glory" or a wild new version of Reverend Gary Davis' "Meet Me At The Station" as Parisien continues, "I'm gonna jump that train / And we gonna reach salvation station in the sky."

The second track, "Working Man," is currently the number one video on the Gospel Music Channel. "I am a working man I get things done / Work for the Holy Ghost / work for the Son."

Song after song, Newworldson rocks with a soul that would make Otis Redding proud. They don't slow things down until the album's fifth cut, "Sweet Holy Spirit," where Parisien's piano is so drenched with soul that you begin to think of all the great soul singers of the past. If you listen to Salvation Station from start to finish before you look at the music credits, you might think you've heard horns. That's because the sound is so full for a quartet, and the mood makes you associate it with Memphis and New Orleans.

For those who despair of the Christian music industry and it's homogenized sound, you'll find Newworldson to be a breath of fresh air.

JEFF COFFIN & CHARLIE PEACOCK—ARC OF THE CIRCLE

In 1984 when Charlie Peacock knocked my socks off with his debut rock album Lie Down In The Grass, I should have known that someday his jazz roots would work their way to the surface.

Back then he sang, "Father was a teacher of harmony / Played the horn like Mr. Beiderbecke..." At that time Peacock was the top act from Sacramento's Exit Records—a Christian label that earned distribution first with A&M and later with Island Records. Later Peacock decided to slide over to the producer's side of the consol where he worked with Switchfoot on their early albums.

On this instrumental jazz CD, Arc Of The Circle, Peacock teams up with Jeff Coffin, a sensational saxophone, clarinet and flute player who's best known as a member of Bela Fleck's grammy winning band, the Flecktones.

From cut to cut you'll find the CD is difficult to nail down. Sometimes it's very melodic, at other times it's playfully chaotic, but never would I describe it as disjointed. Usually Peacock's piano, synthesizer or wurlitzer creates a bed of sound over which Coffin and the other musicians gallivant. There are times when Coffin's sax reminds me of John Coltrane's A Love Supreme—particularly on "Between Joy And Sorrow."

Arc Of The Circle is rightly billed as a duet album—even though there are a half dozen other musicians, such as guitarist Marc Ribot, whom T Bone Burnett often calls on when he's producing. The interplay between Coffin and Peacock dominates the disc and is enough to fill the soundscape.

If you're open to avante garde jazz, I highly recommend Arc Of The Circle.