By: Joseph VanBuren
Rating: 7/11

Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong walk into a bar, where they meet up with James Brown and B.B. King, and a jam session ensues. This is either the set up for a weird joke, or the perfect description of Chicken Gravy's sound. It’s Better With Chicken Gravy (2007), the first album from this six-piece NYC band, is an impressive showcase of lounge music with mild Attention Deficit Disorder. The music switches between three main modes -- jazzy, funk, and blues -- but does so with smooth transitions that keep the album flowing steadily. While half of Chicken Gravy is a horn section, they have no vocalist, and all of their songs run between five and eight minutes, they definitely avoid monotony. The players take turns improvising solos, giving every instrument multiple moments in the spotlight, which is another testament to the balance that Chicken Gravy manages to maintain.

To those that don‘t frequent jazz lounges, It’s Better With Chicken Gravy sounds like music you might hear on the television; “While We Wait For” is the perfect accompaniment to The Weather Channel’s extended forecast. And if James Bond won The Price Is Right showcase, “Mudsucker” would be the theme playing during the end credits. Most of this association is a result of Chicken Gravy’s traditional seasoning, but there’s also a sprinkle of more modern influence. Take, for example, the album’s title track, in which it would seem that Glen Miller is orchestrating Mr. Bungle in their early days.

Blending solid compositions with fluid improv, It’s Better With Chicken Gravy finds the right consistency: not too lumpy and not too watery. The guys in Chicken Gravy are serious musicians who don‘t take themselves too seriously (the name alone should give that away), creating music that is fun and carefree, but perfectly executed. While it’s certainly not an album for genre-specific fans of the underground, it is a collection of music that is sure to impress those with an appreciation for technical musicianship.