Donna The Buffalo – Live From The American Ballroom

Donna The Buffalo’s press materials studiously avoid the term “jam band,” but it’s a decent starting point for a description of the sextet, because they do jam, often and at length, especially on this 2-CD live set. Only three of the fifteen cuts clock in at under five minutes, and they’re balanced by three that extend for over ten.

That fact will be enough to make some folks roll their eyes and move along, but as a lot of working musicians know, if you hit a good groove and the people are dancing, there’s not much reason to cut it short — and DTB’s grooves are pretty damn good. The most likely explanation is the assortment of real chops and genuine roots in old-time string band country, Cajun, zydeco, reggae and more — all dance-oriented genres — that its members bring to the mix. Even when they’re playing simple stuff, Donna The Buffalo isn’t messing around, and that alone makes them stand out in a field where earnest intentions too often count for too much.

The material dished up here includes songs from previous studio albums and a couple of new ones in the same vein. It’s hard to make out the words to many of the songs, but that’s not much of a drawback unless you’re really burning to hear about how time brings change, how living in harmony with nature is good and poisoning the earth is bad, and so on. When you’ve got a good beat, what’s the difference?