Mojo Monkeys

Labels don’t stick easily to the Mojo Monkeys, a groove greasing Los Angeles trio of veteran musicians who filter swampy New Orleans grooves, Bakersfield honky tonk and Texas swing through distinctly Angeleno sensibilities. Their 3rd album, ”Swerve On”, testifies to the improvisational verve that makes their shows such infectious, dance floor packing fun.

Band leader and drummer Dave Raven, bassist Taras Prodaniuk and guitarist Billy Watts 1st discovered their kinetic musical chemistry while backing Tower Of Power vocalist Hubert Tubbs in a funk band 20 years ago. Since then, between them, they’ve accompanied a who’s who list of americana and rock artists, including Eric Burdon, Merle Haggard, Teresa James, Kris Kristofferson, Shelby Lynne, Mike Ness, Bonnie Raitt, Richard Thompson, John Trudell, Dwight Yoakam and Lucinda Williams. That depth of rootsy musicality infuses ”Swerve On”, which displays more stylistic diversity than 1999’s ”Hang” or 2010’s ”Blessings & Curses”.

“Some of the ideas have been around since the closing days of the last record”, notes Raven, while wisecracking about their ’amazing breakneck pace’ of production. With one or all of them on tour at any given juncture, scheduling face time can be maddeningly complicated. When they do manage to meet at Raven’s home, he says, “I press record and we just start jamming. Sometimes things come out in one piece. We usually stop and go, ‘hey, what if we went to the 4 chord here? What should we do for the bridge?’ I usually write lyrics and melodies later”.

“Song For The Muse”, a cool, funky track that sat around for years, recounts what happens when the lyric writing muse stands him up. Pedal steel maestro Marty Rifkin joins the Monkeys for bar room 2 stepper “Tuscaloosa Maybe”, and the old school jazzy swing of “Two Shots”, you can almost hear martini glasses clinking behind co-writer Phil Parlapiano’s suave piano fills. The irresistibly danceable “Beat Bus Driver” boogies into funk city with “Little Javelina”. The soulful camaraderie between Prodaniuk, Raven and Watts pulses through their joyous version of Allen Toussaint’s “Ride Your Pony”, which rolls with the muscularity of the Lee Dorsey hit.

It’s easy to get caught up in the Mojo Monkeys’ rubbery grooves and just dance away cares. But their lyrics serve up food for thought too. The Raymond Chandler-esque “Argyle & Selma” is a partly spoken tale about the struggles of everyday Hollywood characters Raven knows, while the country rocking title track contemplates life’s precious mysteries. Most poignantly, “If I Were Gone” recounts his recent dance with mortality, “if I were gone, gone, gone, and you were all alone, would you miss me much, would you crave my touch?”.

“We had the music for a while, and then I got really sick last fall into the winter”, he recalls. “I really started thinking about death and honestly, being OK with it. My wife and my kids weren’t OK with it, but for me, and I felt, ‘well, if it’s my time, I had a great time’. But I came through it”.

The LA music community is damn happy he lived. Now the Mojo Monkeys are striving to get the hip swiveling, spirit buoying ”Swerve On” in front of eyes and ears, and the band on the road.

“Our show is entertaining”, Raven says. “It’s not like we’re just standing up there looking at our shoes. There’s so much joy. We just love playing together, and I think that translates”.

Labels don’t stick easily to the Mojo Monkeys, a groove greasing Los Angeles trio of veteran musicians who filter swampy New Orleans grooves, Bakersfield honky tonk and Texas swing through distinctly Angeleno sensibilities. Their 3rd album, ”Swerve On”, testifies to the improvisational verve that makes their shows such infectious, dance floor packing fun.

Band leader and drummer Dave Raven, bassist Taras Prodaniuk and guitarist Billy Watts 1st discovered their kinetic musical chemistry while backing Tower Of Power vocalist Hubert Tubbs in a funk band 20 years ago. Since then, between them, they’ve accompanied a who’s who list of americana and rock artists, including Eric Burdon, Merle Haggard, Teresa James, Kris Kristofferson, Shelby Lynne, Mike Ness, Bonnie Raitt, Richard Thompson, John Trudell, Dwight Yoakam and Lucinda Williams. That depth of rootsy musicality infuses ”Swerve On”, which displays more stylistic diversity than 1999’s ”Hang” or 2010’s ”Blessings & Curses”.

“Some of the ideas have been around since the closing days of the last record”, notes Raven, while wisecracking about their ’amazing breakneck pace’ of production. With one or all of them on tour at any given juncture, scheduling face time can be maddeningly complicated. When they do manage to meet at Raven’s home, he says, “I press record and we just start jamming. Sometimes things come out in one piece. We usually stop and go, ‘hey, what if we went to the 4 chord here? What should we do for the bridge?’ I usually write lyrics and melodies later”.

“Song For The Muse”, a cool, funky track that sat around for years, recounts what happens when the lyric writing muse stands him up. Pedal steel maestro Marty Rifkin joins the Monkeys for bar room 2 stepper “Tuscaloosa Maybe”, and the old school jazzy swing of “Two Shots”, you can almost hear martini glasses clinking behind co-writer Phil Parlapiano’s suave piano fills. The irresistibly danceable “Beat Bus Driver” boogies into funk city with “Little Javelina”. The soulful camaraderie between Prodaniuk, Raven and Watts pulses through their joyous version of Allen Toussaint’s “Ride Your Pony”, which rolls with the muscularity of the Lee Dorsey hit.

It’s easy to get caught up in the Mojo Monkeys’ rubbery grooves and just dance away cares. But their lyrics serve up food for thought too. The Raymond Chandler-esque “Argyle & Selma” is a partly spoken tale about the struggles of everyday Hollywood characters Raven knows, while the country rocking title track contemplates life’s precious mysteries. Most poignantly, “If I Were Gone” recounts his recent dance with mortality, “if I were gone, gone, gone, and you were all alone, would you miss me much, would you crave my touch?”.

“We had the music for a while, and then I got really sick last fall into the winter”, he recalls. “I really started thinking about death and honestly, being OK with it. My wife and my kids weren’t OK with it, but for me, and I felt, ‘well, if it’s my time, I had a great time’. But I came through it”.

The LA music community is damn happy he lived. Now the Mojo Monkeys are striving to get the hip swiveling, spirit buoying ”Swerve On” in front of eyes and ears, and the band on the road.

“Our show is entertaining”, Raven says. “It’s not like we’re just standing up there looking at our shoes. There’s so much joy. We just love playing together, and I think that translates”.