Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit of Satch

Ske-Dat-De-Dat: The Spirit of Satch is a 2014 album and the final studio album released by American musician Dr. John during his lifetime, and his penultimate studio album in total. Produced by Dr. John and Sarah Morrow, it was released in August 2014. It contains songs from the repertoire of Louis Armstrong ("Satch") and features many guest musicians, such as The Blind Boys of Alabama and Bonnie Raitt.

Critical reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 72% based on 11 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

The album was selected as a Downbeat Editor's Pick. The Los Angeles Times wrote that tribute albums come and go, "but it's a real rarity that can snap a listener to attention like Dr. John's new salute to jazz founding father Louis Armstrong. "Ske-Dat-De-Dat" turns many of the songs Armstrong recorded inside out and upside down, fast-forwarding them to 2014 with hip-hop beats, funk grooves and wildly inventive horn arrangements that are the work of John and his co-producer and arranger for the project, trombonist Sarah Morrow."

Robert H. Cataliotti's review in Living Blues magazine underlines that Sarah Morrow's "dynamic, textured, and swinging horn charts play a big part in shaping all the different stylistic approaches into a unified soundscape".

Track listing

Personnel

Dr. John – vocals, piano, guitar, horn

James "12" Andrews – trumpet

Terence Blanchard – trumpet

The Blind Boys of Alabama – vocals

Carl Blouin Sr. – baritone saxophone

Oliver Bonie – baritone saxophone

Alonzo Bowens – horn

Brian Quezergue – horn

Wendell Brunious – flugelhorn

Shemekia Copeland – vocals

Tony Dagradi – tenor saxophone

Gregory Davis – trumpet

Tom Fischer – clarinet

Barney Floyd – trumpet

Bobby Floyd – Hammond B3

Alvin Ford, Jr. – drums

Rex Gregory – bass clarinet

Anthony Gullage – electric bass

Anthony Hamilton – vocals

Kevin Harris – tenor saxophone

Kirk Joseph – sousaphone

Mike Ladd – vocals

Ledisi – vocals

Khari Allen Lee – flute, alto saxophone

Roger Lewis – baritone saxophone

Eric Lucero – trumpet

Tom Mallone – horn

Kendrick Marshall – guitar, keyboards

The McCrary Sisters – vocals

Sarah Morrow – horn, trombone

Ivan Neville – Hammond B3

Roderick Paulin – alto saxophone

Nicholas Payton – trumpet

Derwin "Big D" Perkins – guitar

Ed Petersen – tenor saxophone

Bonnie Raitt – vocals

Donald Ramsey – electric bass

Herlin Riley – drums, tambourine

Jamison Ross – drums

Poncho Sanchez – percussions

Arturo Sandoval – trumpet

Telmary – vocals

Efrem Pierre Towns – trumpet

Reginald Veal – acoustic bass, electric bass

Nick Volz – trumpet

Jason Weaver – acoustic bass

Charts

References

External links

Dr. John albums

2014 albums

Concord Records albums