A special pre-album release review:<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0April of 2019 will see <\/span>Happy Growl Records<\/b> release a 2-CD set by <\/span>Kenny Baldwin\u2019s<\/b> band <\/span>Locate Your Lips.<\/b> \u00a0Kenny was a drummer with <\/span>Tony Williams<\/b>-like jazz – fusion aspirations, but he also had a regular music gig as the owner of a Milwaukee punk rock club called the <\/span>Starship<\/b>. \u00a0The more Baldwin was exposed to the aggressive music being created by the bands that played at his club, the farther he leaned toward the genre. \u00a0Teaming with progressive-rock bassist <\/span>Andy Cavaluzzi<\/b>, Baldwin began making music as a duo called <\/span>Locate Your Lips<\/b>. \u00a0The music being released on the 2-CD set <\/span>For Kenny<\/b> (HG001) <\/b>is produced by another musical son of Milwaukee, <\/span>Jim Eannelli<\/b> (who we last heard making music with <\/span>Peggy James)<\/b>. \u00a0Our connecting thread here is <\/span>Gary Tanin <\/b>of <\/span>Daystorm Records<\/b> and if you are now thoroughly lost, please bear with me because the story of LYL has more than a few twists and turns.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Eannelli came on the scene when he was hired to do some carpentry work at Baldwin\u2019s club while trying to make ends meet as a guitarist. \u00a0When he heard Cavaluzzi and Baldwin jamming music that he described as \u201cloud, raw, furious, and magnificent . . . [that sounded] akin to a hurried bison migration in the wild.\u201d \u00a0As Eannelli tells it, \u201cThey were playing out as Locate Your Lips and I remember thinking I could never be in a band with such a strange name. I casually suggested that their unconventional duo of drums and bass needed ME as their guitarist (even though I didn\u2019t know how I was going to make them sound any BETTER!)\u201d \u00a0Listening to Disc One of this set (recorded live at MIlwaukee\u2019s <\/span>Cafe Voltaire)<\/b> one can hear the pulsing bass and drum foundation that captivated Eannelli long before he officially came on board as a member of LYL.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I get the punk roots nature of Locate Your Lips, but there is more going on here than a trio thrashing away – these are carefully crafted songs. \u00a0There is way more musical aplomb present than I recall from the true punkers back in the day. The closest I got to being a fan of punk was <\/span>Husker Du<\/b>, but I could only listen to them so long before I wanted to hear something else. \u00a0It was good music, but it didn\u2019t captivate me like other forms of rock. The tracks heard on <\/span>For Kenny <\/b>are very listenable and it is obvious that Eannelli\u2019s guitar work did make LYL sound better. \u00a0Under different circumstances, LYL wrote songs that could have been hits. They could have been bigger than Husker Du, but alas, this scenario just wasn\u2019t in the cards. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The live tracks were mastered from a tape made by a fan when the live set was broadcast by <\/span>WQFM<\/b>. \u00a0Veteran Milwaukee producer-musician <\/span>Gary Tanin<\/b> (who had previously played with Baldwin in the 1970s) has done a remarkable job resurrecting the show. \u00a0CD One and CD Two were recorded back in 1984 and 1985. CD Two comes from an album length studio recording that was never released. \u00a0The studio tracks were recorded live with the final vocals added later. Their music was the end product of a 8-month period of creativity sparked by Baldwin and Eannelli returning to Milwaukee and reconnecting with Cavaluzzi.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Baldwin had taken a side track when he joined the Milwaukee techno-pop synth duo <\/span>Colour Radio. \u00a0<\/b>The group, with Eannelli on board to form a more conventional band lineup, \u00a0pushed off to Los Angeles to make an album. Baldwin was eventually fired for \u2018creative differences\u2019 and Eannelli quit in protest. \u00a0The pair found themselves back in Milwaukee where Eannelli picks up the reformation of LYL story: \u201cWe got off the plane and went over to Andy\u2019s house. \u00a0I hadn\u2019t even unpacked, It was: \u2018Dude, we\u2019ve got to start a band!\u2019\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Tanin and Eannelli agree that Baldwin\u2019s drumming was the key to the band\u2019s sound. \u00a0Tanin says, \u201cHe played the pocket behind the beat like <\/span>John Bonham\u201d<\/b> while Eannelli has a slightly different vision: \u00a0\u201cKenny was a jazz drummer who fell in love with the carnival of punk.\u201d To my ears, there is more than a little resemblance to <\/span>Stuart Copeland<\/b> of the <\/span>Police.<\/b> \u00a0Baldwin has the ability to add a furious beat to the songs but he also has a very musical quality to his drumming. \u00a0Cavaluzzi\u2019s bottom end is solid throughout and Eannelli\u2019s guitar playing is both fierce and refined. Their vocal harmonizing is spot on in every track. \u00a0Straight ahead rock, jazz tinged fusion, and a side order of funk make this an extremely enjoyable album. Jim Eannelli has produced a fitting tribute that will make everyone who knew Kenny Baldwin (and even those who didn\u2019t) smile.<\/span><\/p>\n Top Piece video:\u00a0 Live from\u00a0For Kenny<\/strong> live CD:\u00a0 Waiting for You to Run<\/em><\/p>\n