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King Johnson
Luck So Strange
Steamtrain 103

With a name derived from various famous "Kings" (Albert, B.B., Freddie) and "Johnsons" (Robert, Blind Willie, Tommy), this Atlanta act sets up expectations that they are a straight-ahead outfit in the style of those legendary figures. Actually, King Johnson, whose experienced core has played with Tinsley Ellis, is far more varied — and more fun — than its name suggests.

Led by the malleable guitar of founder Oliver Wood (brother of Medeski Martin & Wood bass player Chris Wood) and bassist/songwriter Chris Long, King Johnson chugs along on a diet of Meters/Dr. John-style funk, Little Feat second-line rhythms, Southern ballads, and just enough swampy jazz to get your rump onto the dance floor. There's blues here, but the band employs it as an anchor to shift into a molten R&B groove where they sweat it out with passion and control, their rugged talent gained through years of playing nightly on the Atlanta scene.

The two-man horn contingent of Adam Mewherter and Marcus James is so tight and cohesive it sounds like an entire brass section. Exchanging parts on the instrumental "Wil E" the duo sets up a fiery funk attack as potent as anything out of New Orleans. The basic three-piece is featured on the spooky atmospheric "Shadow of Wood," with the song's namesake's tremolo guitar getting so greasy and thick, you'd swear you were lost in the black Mississippi backwater on a muggy summer's night. You'll never mistake them for the bluesmen that make up their appellation, but King Johnson has used traditional influences to craft a consistently entertaining, danceable album — one that aims for the feet, but shoots from the heart.     (Hal Horowitz)