“Expect to hear a double bass do things that you never expected, then be glad you did.” The Weekly Volcano 01-13-05

“trumpet player John Fricke...hits notes that are both soul piercing and emotive... he creates sounds that seem to emanate from the night sky.” Northwest Jazz Profile 01-05

"A virtuoso of acoustic upright double bass, James Whiton slaps, bows, maneuvers, and manipulates his instrument with orchestral precision and street-corner desperation." San Francisco Weekly, 8-ll-O4

"James Whiton is a Seattle based double bassist and poet who nearly lost his left arm to a car wreck in 1994. After several surgeries and an incredible amount of determination he managed to prove more than one doctor wrong and keep the arm so necessary to his instrument. Despite the resulting limited mobility of one quarter of his limbs, there is absolutely nothing "stiff" about his playing which ranges from soft and quiet to hard and heavy, but never fails to be powerful. Having played alongside such notables as Michael Shrieve and George Clinton's P-funk, Whiton claims influences ranging from Charles Mingus to Geezer Butler, and a cursory listen to The Way Your Mouth Moves instantly confirms he isn't exaggerating.

The Downtown Apostles is a somewhat floating membership of extremely adept musicians who back his forays into the fringes of jazz, metal, ambient, and experimental rock. For the 2005 release The Way Your Mouth Moves on Hipsync Records, the Apostle line-up is a fixed four-piece with electric guitarist Bill Patton lending a decidedly metallic edge to the proceedings, and drummer Jay Jaskot and trumpet player John Fricke filling things out more than solidly. This group is incredibly tight, and provides a soundtrack to Whiton's spoken narrative that ranges from haunting to fearsome.

It is hard not to examine music that mines the borders of heavy metal rockism and experimental jazz without bringing comparisons to John Zorn into the picture, and it is probably worth suggesting to fans of Painkiller and Naked City that they check The Downtown Apostles out. Given that the incarnation of the Apostles on The Way Your Mouth Moves doesn't feature a saxophone (though apparently the current live group does) there is no reason, however, to take the comparisons very far. Whiton's group has a very distinct sound all their own that manages to mix genres and influences without seeming overtly derivative at all.

While "Your the Only One" reads a bit more on the funk meter than other tracks, and while the title piece is a considerably quieter more ambient statement, the songs flow quite cohesively from one to the next. For me the standout track is "My Soul is Pure" a dark serious poem of a soldier's psychological victimization from war set to the Apostles soundtrack in full echoing heaviness, juxtaposed with a humorous intro of Bill Patton laying some classic death metal riffage to Whiton's mocking comment. The whole of The Way Your Mouth Moves was essentially recorded live with all four musicians playing at once in true band form, and it shows. Live use of an effects pedal allowed Whiton and trumpet player Fricke to layer their instruments quite effectively in this framework.

Obviously I like this record quite a bit. I was rather surprised by it in fact, as it came in a package of all sorts of music from Seattle recording engineer friend, Mr. Erik 4-A, and I had no idea what to expect, nor any background as to what I was throwing in the cd player. That has worked out entirely for the better, as it's always great to discover something really good that one had no idea even existed.

To find out more about Mr. Whiton's background, influences, history of recording projects, and to purchase this and other albums or download some MP3s, check out his website: http://www.downtownapostles.com

Rating: 9 out of 10

--Ricardo Wang 12/04/2005