As hard as it is to believe, sometimes the groove is not enough. There are bands all over town that can groove and can move a crowd, but eventually, songs and memorable riffs matter. Dancing Ground raises this issue because it has the title song, a new song with the Wild Tchoupitoulas that stands heads and tails above the other compositions on the album. It sounds “Brother John”-esque, but it makes the others seem slight by contrast.

 

If you’re going to plant your flag in the groove, though, you could do a lot worse than this lot. Jack Cruz, George Sartin and Sally Stevens started the conspiracy in Memphis during the evacuation, and their funky pedigrees are solid. With Alfred “Uganda” Roberts on percussion and Ivan Neville on organ among the guest conspirators, they’ve augmented their lineup well. The funk is unquestionably solid, but on record, I need a little more.