Roy Nathanson
Fire at Keaton's Bar & Grill
(Six Degrees)
Here is a small find for those looking for something a little beyond the usual
fare dished up at DAA. Roy Nathanson is the leading light behind the Jazz Passengers who have
been cranking out a mix of contemporary sounds and classic themes for over a decade, though may
be best known for affording that gal who fronted Blondie a chance to show off her chops.
Fire at Keaton's Bar & Grill must be given the dreaded "concept album" label, but what a
concept! Keaton's existed and was a place that, as principal lyricist Ray Dobbins mentions in
the liner notes, "abide[d] by the slogan 'Anywhere I Bang My Head is Home'." An unsolved and
mysterious fire torched Keaton's and Nathanson has rounded up quite a crew to recall a spot that
constituted "bar stool paradise." Crooning over the smooth piano of Cyrus Chestnut on "Fire Suite
1," the opening track, is Elvis Costello, serving as narrator, remembering the night "When St
Lucy's mad torch/Took away our best bar." The rest of the guests are of similar A-list
caliber: guitarist Marc Ribot, vocalist Kenny Washington, ex-Psych Fur Richard Butler and Her
Blondieness, Deborah Harry as a bartendress-mankiller, to name a few. The songs alternately
swing and blow the blues led by baritone saxophonist Sam Furnace (well named, no?) and
Nathanson's alto and tenor saxes. Lyrics spill out like countless stories in an
"if-these-walls-could-talk" cadence. Probably we all have a personal Keaton's, though perhaps
not one with such a good soundtrack.
Rating: 7
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