Big Whiskey & the GrooGrux King [Digipak]

Performer: Dave Matthews Band
Engineer: Wesley Fontenot; Josh Evans; Aaron Walk; Paul Suarez; Steve Rea; Dan Chase; Doug McKean; Russ Waugh; Floyd Reitsma; Lars Fox; Rob Evans; Sam Hofstedt
Producer: Rob Cavallo
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Dave Matthews Band: Dave Matthews (vocals, guitar); Boyd Tinsley (violin); LeRoi Moore (saxophone); Stefan Lessard (bass guitar); Carter Beauford (drums, percussion). Additional personnel: Joe Lawlor, Tim Pierce (guitar); Danny Barnes (banjo); Alyssa Park, Sharon Jackson, Philip Vaiman, Gerardo Hilera, Alan Grunfeld, Vladimir Polimatidi, Laurence Greenfield, Joel Derouin, Sid Page, Jacqueline Brand, Roberto Cani, Natalie Leggett, Josephina Vergara, Michele Richards, Susan Chatman, Miwako Watanabe, Charlie Bisharat, Mario Diaz de Leon (violin); Matt Funes, Robert Brophy, Karen Elaine, Victoria Miskolszy, Darrin McCann, Andrew Duckles (viola); Chris Ermacoff, George Kim Scholes, Suzie Katayama, Armen Ksadjikian, Dane Little, Rudolph Stein, Steve Richards (cello); Rob Cavallo (piano, organ); Jamie Muhoberac (organ, keyboards); Roger Manning (keyboards); Timothy Eckert, Nico Carmine Abondolo (double bass); Arthur Robinson. Audio Mixer: Doug McKean. Audio Remasterer: Ted Jensen. The first studio album since the death of saxophonist LeRoi Moore, BIG WHISKEY AND THE GROOGRUX KING finds the Dave Matthews Band none the worse for wear and collaborating with superstar producer Rob Cavallo (best known for his extensive work with Green Day). Cavallo's way with an aggressive riff is in evidence on "Shake Me Like a Monkey," a funky track vaguely reminiscent of Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer," and the driving "Why I Am," which recalls the Knack's "My Sharona." Other songs, such as the groovy, polyrhythmic "Spaceman," find the band returning to classic jammy, chops-a-riffic DMB territory. Full of prominent hooks and snap-tight ensemble playing, BIG WHISKEY gave DMB fans another reason to rejoice.

Spin (p.91) - "GROOGRUX is harder edged and more bottom heavy than DMB's usual fare....A fond, funky farewell." Billboard (p.53) - "[T]his eulogy is a celebration, and BIG WHISKEY is a dense, humid album that, befitting its New Orleans origins, shrewdly cuts its melancholy with exuberance and vice versa." Q (Magazine) (p.127) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]his latest effort almost shows signs of discipline: four-minute song structures and melodies that realise the benefit of economy." Paste (magazine) (p.58) - "[With] touching and tasteful tributes....The band takes some sonic risks and shows continued versatility on songs like 'Alligator Pie'..."

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Dave Matthews was born in South Africa, but it was after moving to Charlottesville, Virginia, in the 1980s that he assembled his world-beating band. Adding violin and multiple saxophones to the traditional rock-band instrumentation, Matthews and his cohorts created a unique, idiosyncratic sound that melded jam-band improvisation with elements of folk-rock, funk, and jazz fusion. A homegrown phenomenon, the band sold a stunning number of copies of a self-released debut album via non-stop touring. After signing to a major label, avoiding any artistic compromise in the process, the band immediately broke through on a national level, becoming one of the most popular groups in the U.S.

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