Music

On the Record: Corey Henry, ‘Lapeitah’

by Nick Pittman

New Orleans brass albums — while good — are often like a bucket of peanuts: They may come in different shapes and sizes, but they are all still roughly the same. Not so here.

It’s fitting that Corey Henry — with the help of Living Colour’s Corey Glover — chose to cover Jimi Hendrix’s “If 6 was 9” on his Lapeitah. While Henry wails away on his trombone, Glover declares, “I ain’t gonna copy you!”

New Orleans brass albums — while good — are often like a bucket of peanuts: They may come in different shapes and sizes, but they are all still roughly the same. Although not a copy of each other, they can come off as part of one big whole and lacking a face or a unique stamp. Lapeitah — equal parts soul, street and swagger by Galactic’s Henry — is by no means a copy of anything.

From the first cut, he pairs the usual brass fixtures — earth and trunk rattling beats, good time parade rhythms — with the extras that you won’t find find in the typical offerings, all while nodding right at the Crescent City (“Tell Ya Mama Nem”). With a bevy of guest hosts, Henry incorporates a mix of soul singing, rapping, old school beats with a playground free-for-all feel to create a unique take on funky brass.

In the middle, Henry hits a couple more jazzy numbers and transitions into “Feeling Tremazin,” which feels like the source material for a G funk track — think early 1990s Dr Dre, Ice Cube.

“Treme Lyfe” is the climax of the record — half hip-hop, a quarter old school, two tenths funky beats, one-third sweet brass rhythms, a quarter pound of bud smoking anthems, with 70 percent more parade route foot work and 99 percent sharper with lines about how when he goes 21 trumpets will ring. Check the math and — like the rest album — it’s 100 percent dank.
_
Nick Pittman is a freelance entertainment and feature writer. To contact him, email [email protected]._