Charlie Gabriel - Eighty Nine (LP) - Yellow Vinyl

Drop the needle on Charlie Gabriel’s Eighty Nine and the room relaxes a little, like someone cracked a window and let the Quarter’s night air drift in. Gabriel is the elder statesman of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, a clarinet and tenor sax voice that has carried New Orleans melody for decades, and in 2022 he finally stepped out under his own name with this first solo set. Issued by Sub Pop in late February, the record’s title nods to his age at the time. It also hints at the feeling inside these grooves. Wisdom without weight. Ease without complacency.

The repertoire leans into songs he has likely known most of his life, and the intimacy is the point. His take on I’m Confessin’ (That I Love You) plays like a quiet conversation after last call, clarinet lines hovering above a rhythm section that knows when to leave space. He sings it too, with a soft, slightly sandy delivery that fits the lyric’s shy pledge. Chelsea Bridge floats in on tenor, a misty stroll through Billy Strayhorn’s harmonies that makes you lean closer rather than reach for fireworks. Nothing here tries to prove anything. It breathes.

Ben Jaffe, bassist and creative director for Preservation Hall, produced the album, and you can hear that family feeling in every corner. The band keeps a light touch, brushes on the snare, a bass that walks rather than stomps, piano comps that sip rather than gulp. Gabriel sits in the center like a good storyteller, happy to let the tune unfold at human scale. Even when the clarinet climbs, the sound stays round and unhurried, the product of a lifetime spent making songs dance rather than shout.

Sub Pop releasing a New Orleans jazz record might surprise anyone who still thinks of the label only in terms of fuzz pedals and flannel. Here it feels like a natural home. The sequencing is patient, the recording warm and unadorned, and the presentation treats an American art form with the same care the label shows its indie stalwarts. If you’re browsing a shop and spot the Eighty Nine vinyl, that black-and-white cover feels like a handshake. This is a record meant to be held, flipped, and lived with.

Gabriel’s tone is the main event, but the sidemen deserve their quiet bows. The rhythm players sit deep in the pocket and make swing feel like second nature. There is a little New Orleans lilt in the time, a behind-the-beat smile that turns standards into stories. When the clarinet answers the vocal line on I’m Confessin’, you hear those years in Preservation Hall, where the conversation between melody and counter-melody never stops. On Chelsea Bridge, the tenor’s breath and key noise pull you into the horn itself, that tactile thing vinyl does so well.

This isn’t a repertory museum piece. It’s a late chapter from a working musician who still plays rooms where the walls sweat. In interviews around the release, Gabriel talked about music as service, something his family passed down through generations. You can feel that ethos here. He isn’t chasing novelty. He’s chasing feel. The tempos sit just right for an unhurried two-step, and the solos slide in like remarks from a friend who knows when to keep it brief.

Collectors will want this not just for the performances but for the vibe it brings to a room. If you shop for Charlie Gabriel vinyl or broader Charlie Gabriel albums on vinyl, this belongs near the front of the shelf for those mellow evenings when you want the band close and the volume low. And if you’re trying to buy Charlie Gabriel records online, you’ll find this Sub Pop pressing easy to track down through the usual indie channels, whether you’re in the States or hunting around vinyl records Australia sites while daydreaming about a stop at a Melbourne record store.

Eighty Nine lands like a small blessing. It reminds you that jazz can still whisper and mean everything. No grand claims, no studio theatrics, just a master musician sitting with songs that fit his hands. Let it roll on a Sunday afternoon or late on a weekday when the city is settling down. You’ll hear New Orleans in there, sure, but you’ll also hear time itself handled with care.