The San Francisco Bay Guardian
Will Bernard & Motherbug
Motherbug (Dreck to Disc)
December 6-12, 2000

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A chameleon who never settles long into one color, Will Bernard has nonetheless found a fitting groove with Motherbug (available at www.willbernard.com). The gifted guitarist answers to many amuse - James Brown funk, '60s soul jazz, '705 jazz - rock fusion, bottleneck blues - but through clever composing and audacious execution, he finds ways to make them dance to the beat of the same drum. In this case Jan Jackson commands the traps, and along with former Spearhead bassist Keith McArthur he drives a mighty whomp through the middle, while Michael Bluestein pulls out all of the stops on organs and electric keyboards to generate soulful swells and eerie drones that usher in yet even more eclectic touchstones.

The band needs little help in negotiating this vast terrain, but effective guests abound: Rob Vlack's samples and Jeff Cressman's trombone put "100 Chas Chas" into a different orbit; the Big Hut Strings enrich the brooding "Pursuit of Happiness"; the Cannonball Horns punch up "Mung Beans and Rice"; Boots Riley adds wry spoken word intrigue to "Motherbug Theme" and" Adjust the Facts"; and percussionists Josh Jones, Jim Kassis, and Michael Urbano keep the funky beats akimbo by etching largely Latin filigrees into the rhythms throughout. Meanwhile, Bernard continually impresses as the lead instrumental voice, exploring every guitar tone and timbre at his disposal that, with inventive production help from Jason Carmer, propel Motherbug out of the circular and dead-end traps of the lounge and jam band aesthetics.