Home Read Classic Album Review: The Dirty Dozen Brass Band | Medicated Magic

Classic Album Review: The Dirty Dozen Brass Band | Medicated Magic

The bumptious NOLA brigade cure your blues with their star-studded ninth release.

This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):

 


Step right up, folks, don’t be shy. Welcome to the Dirty Dozen Brass Band revue and medicine show.

Do you suffer from a distinct lack of funkitude? Is there no music these days that puts the shake in your booty? Well, the Dirties have the miracle cure in their latest concoction Medicated Magic. It packs a concentrated dose of the veteran N’Awlins nonet’s patented ingredients — bumptious beats, low-rolling sousaphone bass lines, rollicking horn-driven party anthems, and more Crescent City attitude than a month of Mardi Gras. Don’t take my word for it; celebrity endorsements come from Dr. John (who contributes Walk On Gilded Splinters and Junko Partner, and guests on the raucous Big Chief and Everything I Do Goin’ Be Funky), soulful jazz songbird Norah Jones (who croons the Nevilles Ruler of My Heart), sacred steel slide whiz Robert Randolph, singer Olu Dara and even DJ Logic, who spins the steel wheels on the Dozen’s own We Got Robbed. With all that going for it, Medicated Magic is sure to put the dip back in your hip and the glide back in your stride.