After a seriously long break Waldeck - famous for his highly acclaimed “Ballroom Stories” (2007) - is back on the scene with “The Weatherman” to be followed soon by his long awaited full length album “Rio Grande” Ousted from the glorious ballrooms still wearing polished shoes and a tuxedo we join Waldeck Waldeck leaves the next day and moves further west to New Mexico, where he hooks up with ex-con and part time singer Carl Avory (convicted for manipulating the mileage of used cars) who operates an illegal crack joint near Santa Fe disguised as retro Rock & Roll club. After a violent domestic scene involving kitchen knives and the odd reconciliation (“Hold me Tight”) Waldeck decides to hit the road again and moves on to Arizona. As we travel further west, making 120 miles per hour listening to the latest “police hunt blues harp-tunes” on our car system we eventually pass the “Rio Grande” (vinyl only). Finally crossing the border to California just before midnight, Waldeck finds a decent enough looking motel. It is too hot to go to bed so he visits a nearby night club and again we meet Joy Malcolm, rendering a performance to a crowd drunk on whiskey, singing about the golden dreams of the promised land “Viva California!” Musically, Waldeck dwells on offbeat rhythms and combines them with blues, dub & reggae. And it works well. |