Steuart Liebig * Long Gone CD

Los Angeles-based avant-garde bass icon Steuart Liebig's new album "Long Gone" with his band Men-Tot Six is a raucous fusion of styles and sounds featuring Tony Atherton (alto saxophone), Bill Barrett (chromatic harmonica), Joseph Berardi (drum set, percussion), Dan Clucas (cornet), Scot Ray (slide guitar), and Liebig (contrabass guitars). The second album by Liebig's Men-Tot Six, "Long Gone," is rooted in an exploration of the intersection of blues, country and 'free jazz,' which Liebig contends has some strong blues underpinnings in it's beginnings. The band's first album was released on Orenda Records in 2018, and after a long postponement due to the global pandemic and ensuing societal and personal fallout, they are back with the aptly named "Long Gone." In this way, "Long Gone" feels like a Phoenix. It's a rousing and exciting listen and a triumphal return from one of Los Angeles's most prolific artists.