Dance Hall - Vinyl LP

 Granelli's 20th album as a leader has him tackling hit singles from yesteryear, including The Platters' "The Great Pretender," Dinah Washington's mournful "This Bitter Earth," Fats Domino's "Ain't That a Shame" and Louis Jordan's "Caldonia." He also tips his cap to Max Roach on a dramatic reading of "Driva Man" (from 1964's pivotal protest record We Insist! Freedom Now Suite featuring singer Abbey Lincoln) and to Charles Mingus on a straight shuffle version of "Boogie Stop Shuffle." An earthy reading of "Meet Me in the Morning" represents one of the artists Granelli knew from the early days of the Fillmore West in San Francisco, Bob Dylan. The drummer explains that his laid back, behind-the-beat groove on this Dylan tune was more inspired by a funkier version by Texas bluesman Freddie King from his 1975 album Larger Than Life. Aretha Franklin is also represented here with a newer tune, the gospel-tinged "Never Gonna Break My Faith" (from the 2006 movie Bobby about the death of Bobby Kennedy). "I heard that song on a plane and I just felt, 'That's the time we're in, that's what we gotta do now."