It's About Time/Way Overdue
author: Graham Smith
My wife and I first saw Paul Cebar and the Milwaukeeans in 1997 in our hometown, Annapolis, Maryland. The CD Upstroke for the Downfolk had just come out and was getting lots of airplay on the local independent radio station WYPR. I had become hooked on Please Don’t Tell Me More (About My Baby) and when WYPR sponsored a Paul Cebar & the Milwaukeeans show at a local well loved dumpy bar (the Acme Bar And Grill) I bought tickets immediately and we got our butts down to the Acme well before the show was to start.
The Acme Bar and Grill is one of those great dumpy bars that is way too small for a band, but books them anyway. It’s a narrow little rectangle of a store front bar with tin ceilings and a great beer selection and was completely unprepared for a Paul Cebar and the Milwaukeeans show.
By about the 3rd song in to the first set, the crowd in the bar had dispensed with any notion of appropriate public decorum- people were dancing in any open space they could find- tables, chairs, the bar………it was incredible. You cannot listen to this band live and not dance- I defy you to try. I was already a fan of the band, but on that night, my wife and I became devoted followers.
Paul Cebar and the Milwaukeeans make regular annual appearances in the DC-Annapolis-Baltimore area, playing fairly regular gigs at Wolftrap, the Birchmere and the Rams Head Tavern. My wife and I always catch a show when they are in town and they never disappoint.
So, after seeing the band over the years with no new CD out, I’ve been eagerly awaiting Paul Cebar and the Milwaukeeans to release something new. Tomorrow Sound Now for Yes Music People doesn’t disappoint and features a lot of the songs the band has been playing at their shows, but hadn’t released on CD. I was particularly pleased to see Cebar include the African Palm Wine song Do Me Justice. Cebar has eclectic far-flung musical tastes and the band has been described as a “Groove and Sway Combo”. They regularly incorporate African pop tunes, touches or Motown, 1960’s rock, New Orleans jazz and stride, and Caribbean musical influences in their work. So on this CD, the palm wine song about a woman asking for some special attention from her man blends beautifully with the soulful Marv's Fluttering Guitar, the dark and edgy Knock it To Me Now, the infectiously danceable The Gimp Sparrow, and the equally danceable and retro sounding I Got Trouble.
This CD has quickly become one of my favorite Cebar discs- ranking up there with Upstroke for the Downfolk, Suchamuch - Live!, and The Get-Go. If you are already a fan of the band, you know you are going to buy the CD anyway- just buy it and rest assured you won’t be disappointed. If you are new to the band and are curious, I highly recommend this disc, along with Upstroke for the Downfolk, Suchamuch - Live!, and The Get-Go. Cebar and his band are an American cultural treasure- if you aren’t listening, you are missing out.
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Audio Sunshine
author: Alicia Levin
Oh my word, this CD is crazy good. I was looking for some new work out music & heard "Knock it to me now" on the radio. My reaction was: Shut the front door, that is NOT Paul Cebar; alas it was and so I purchased this SWEET ACTION CD and it was good. It was alllllll good. Thank you so very much for making my 5-mile runs utterly enjoyable (well at least on the audio end). You know it Cebar!
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Love Ya Buddy
author: John Sullivan
Paul you are my favorite musician in the whole and I love your new CD. Since I first saw you 20 years ago at Gaspars in Chicago, I have been hooked. Your music has gotten me through thick and thin years and has meant more to me than you would ever know. Since marriage and kids and moving to the suburbs I can't see you as much, but I NEVER forget about you and play your CDs every chance I get. Thank you and wishing you much success and happiness!
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Tommorow Sound Now for Yes Music People
author: J-9
A plethora of fine musicians! Thanks for the tunes, Paul. You're a hometown boy doin' us proud!
Thanks, too, to 88Nine for playing Her New Church, or I would never have bought the CD.
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