Recommended: Jacob Deaton & the Tribulation Band – “My Home”

 

Jacob Deaton - "My Home"What’s most arresting about My Home is the way each song possesses a quality of inevitability, that no matter how far Jacob Deaton & the Tribulation Band wander off from the melody, they’ll always return to it… and often.  The melodies of My Home are formed rather than cut, owing more to imagery than precision, and it’s why the ambiance of each song is so damn absorbing and why the magnetic pull to return to that melody is as strong as it is.

My Home plays out as a cinematic experience, which runs counter-intuitive to the definitive structure each song exhibits.  Those conflicting qualities add a nice bit of tension to the affair.  So does the music’s easy-going nature and its predisposition for the big pronouncement.  These songs are charming and wistful, moving with a pleasant, unhurried gait that allows for the space and time for each expression to bloom, hang, and drift away.  This is something accomplished when the song is at its most peaceful and when it jacks the heat way up.  The blues are evident throughout and Americana informs all of it.

Deaton switches things up a bit by mixing in a few shorter pieces.  They fit part and parcel with the album’s prevailing demeanor, but by limiting the time frame, the band skips the whole patient expression thing and gets right to the point.  The solo guitar piece “Grandma’s Grocery” twists up a melody and then watches it unravel.  “Open the Door” scoots along to the beat of piano and hand claps.  “In the Moment” sets a match to a melody and lets it smolder.

A tuneful album with a strong presence.

It’s also one that I typically recommend to people who tell me they like the Brian Blade Fellowship.  Go scoop it up.

Your album personnel:  Jacob Deaton (guitar), Akeem Marable (alto sax), Nick Rosen (piano), Craig Shaw (bass) and Justin Chesarek (drums).

Released in 2013, this album is Self-Produced.

Jazz from the Atlanta, GA scene.

Available at:  Bandcamp | CDBaby | Amazon