Album: The Dirty Dozen Brass Band <!-- none onestar twostar threestar fourstar fivestar -->

What's Going On, SHOUT FACTORY/EVANGELINE

A thrilling re-creation of Marvin Gaye's masterpiece in the New Orleans brass band style of which the Dirty Dozen are the unquestioned masters, What's Going On represents the most pungent commentary so far on the post-Katrina scandal. The tone is angrier than Gaye's yearning melancholy - the query "Who really cares?" that introduces "Save the Children" is an aggrieved interrogation - with rappers Guru and Chuck D helping to make the complaints specific. The latter, on the title track, links the disaster to Bush's overseas designs, and treats with due contempt the "radio stations, TV news, and all them one-sided views". The compositions adapt beautifully to the brass-band style, most impressively in "Flyin' High (In the Friendly Sky)", which makes the agile volte-face fromlamentation to celebratory wake that is integral to New Orleans funerals. The CD is a powerful reminder of the unique culture endangered by America's contemptuous response.

DOWNLOAD THIS: 'What's Going On', 'Flyin' High (In the Friendly Sky)', 'Save the Children'