Live is best!

This live set from Niacin proves once again that great musicians sound best live. I generally have enjoyed everything I have heard from this trio of great players. My only overall complaint about the band is that occasionally they dip a bit too deep into the rock bag for my tastes. Fortunately on this release that's at a minimum.

Pass the Hammond and Bite the Bullet

Every time I get a hankering to listen to ELP (just to make sure they really were as bad as everyone told me they were) I slip on some Niacin instead. Absolutely bloody brilliant! Can't recommend this highly enough. If you thought ELP were avatars then this lot are gods. Fantastic, even though they're Americans.

Funk Power Trio

I do belive Niacin has the market cornered on Organ Power Trio. As mentioned in a previous review, Tony Williams' Lifetime is in the same realm, but Niacin sets their sites a bit closer to funk and captures more groove. Dennis Chambers is a MONSTER on the drums and he can make anything funk. This debut CD is no exception. Some of the tracks sound similar, but they are almost all enjoyable. It's nice to hear Billy Sheehan in a new setting and he really fills the gap that would be left for a guitarist. The album would not be the same with a full time guitarist.

This is the debut recording of the power trio Niacin, comprised of organist John Novello, bassist Billy Sheehan, and drummer Dennis Chambers. The pet project of Sheehan, it is part acid jazz, part progressive rock, and part jazz-rock fusion, all built around Novello’s dominating sound. They have obviously learned from some of fusion’s previous pitfalls and keep the pyrotechnics to a minimum in deference to strong grooves, patient tension building, and memorable melodies. Chambers in particular exercises restraint and seems content to play “in the pocket,” favoring his typically busy (in a good way) style. The session really belongs to Novello, who seems to have appeared from out of nowhere, as did this band, and emerged as a key voice on an underutilized instrument. His sound is steeped in the Jimmy Smith and Joey DeFrancesco schools, but he avoids sounding retro or like an imitator. Listeners were hungry for this type of music and were quick to respond to Niacin’s soulful fusion. An excellent debut. – Robert Taylor