Put five musicians together in a room and let them improvise. Hit the record button. What will you end up with? It could be a litany of shopworn clichés. Blind, bland stabs by hacks more interested in showing off their chops than in listening to each other, or challenging themselves.

But what if the quintet in question is Mojo Mancini, five of the most diverse and in-demand players in the business, total pros who eat and breathe music even when they’re away from the studio or stage? Artists who between the five of them have worked with—and this is just a partial list—Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney, Al Green, Elvis Costello, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, David Byrne, Ray Charles, Dolly Parton, Sheryl Crow, Buddy Guy, Charlie Haden, Levon Helm, Shawn Colvin, Bruce Hornsby, Joan Osborne, Madeline Peyroux, and Regina Spektor? No surprise in that case the air in that room would be filled with staggeringly great sounds, music that transcends even the sum experience of its makers as it moves from one moment to another. Such moments are found throughout Mojo Mancini’s stunning self-titled debut.

Mojo Mancini is made up of Grammy-winning producer and guitarist John Leventhal, “Saturday Night Live” drummer Shawn Pelton, saxophonist and engineer Rick DePofi, keyboardist Brian Mitchell, and bassist Conrad Korsch. The group began in 2000 with one aim: to make music with no predetermined style or structure and to have fun doing it.

“We’ve all known each other for between 20 and 30 years,” says Leventhal, the husband and bandleader of country great Rosanne Cash. “Even though we’re known for and love working with all of these other great artists, before we started this band we felt like we’d gotten away from just being in the moment when playing. We wanted an outlet where we could make music that doesn’t adhere to one specific genre.

The five of us bring a lot of different things to the table, which makes for a really unique sound.” Unique is right. Mojo Mancini sounds like little else on today’s radar. Its tracks blend elements of rock, funk, dub, R&B, jazz, blues, and electronica—while not hovering in any one zone long enough to be categorized. For the sessions one musician would originate an idea and the others would fall in, each adding his own spontaneous brushstrokes to create surprising colors, melodies, harmonies, and grooves.

DePofi then edited the recordings down into the album’s 13 cuts; pieces like the popping, percolating dub-groover “Ganesvoort,” the moody, mist-filled noir epic “Widescreen” (its title a testament to the music’s soundtrack readiness); and the funky, sax-smeared “Just Sit” and the enigmatic-to-explosive “Let Us Pray” which feature, respectively, the voices of poets Jack Hirschman and Lawrence Ferlinghetti.

“Even though we all come from different places—John’s got his roots influences, Conrad and I are more from jazz and R&B, Brian blues, and Shawn’s really into experimental music—to me we’re kinda like a jazz band, but one that’s trying to not sound like a jazz band,” offers DePofi, the owner and creative director of NY Noise Music productions. “It’s about going deep, not just staying in the default position.”

Like other areas of life, in music getting out of your element is what keeps everything fresh. And so with one fresh, outstanding album to its clever name so far, where is Mojo Mancini headed to next? Ah, but like the music itself, it’s not the destination that matters.
It’s the journey that counts.

From: http://www.arielpublicity.net/login

MOJO MANCINI is Rick DePofi, John Leventhal, Shawn Pelton, Brian Mitchell, Conrad Korsch at The Canal Room 4/7/10.