“FREE, GENEROUS, AND RADIANT”: MALO MAZURIE’S “TAKING THE PLUNGE”

There are many ways to encounter the hallowed music of the past with integrity. One is to study it with such reverent adoration that one can become one’s idol, reproducing Bix’s SINGIN’ THE BLUES, Hawkins’ BODY AND SOUL, Lester’s SHOE SHINE BOY. This is not easily done and may be a lifelong quest. When it succeeds, a kind of magic happens: the audience can imagine that their hero is standing arm’s length away and they are in at the creation. Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks do this splendidly and have done so for decades.

The brilliant trumpeter Malo Mazurie can perform this music with ardor and expertise. On YouTube, you will see him splendidly being Bill Coleman in 1937 or a myriad of fabled hot brass players, in situations where he and other marvelous musicians are asked to play jazz first recorded eighty or a hundred years ago. It is a mystical world where SUMMERTIME is “a modern tune.” And, as Malo shows us in videos of live performance and discs made in the studio, he floats through that world with great style, honoring and summoning up Louis, Bix, Cootie and others.

His is a great art. But many of the musicians I know who can become other people onstage look forward to situations that allow and encourage them to be themselves. “Don’t you want to hear what I sound like?” might be the relevant question, said out loud or stifled. We admire the heroes of this art precisely because they were innovative in their time. Now, innovation within and beyond the tradition, created with ingenuity and affection, feels right.

Back to our hero, alive and flourishing in 2024.

But first, a few mnutes of delightful history. I first encountered him as one of THREE BLIND MICE, an extraordinary trio of Malo, trumpet; Felix Hunot, guitar, and Sebastien Giradot, double bass. Here they explore Willie “the Lion” Smith’s ECHOES OF SPRING with gentle audacity:

When I began to write this post, I soon found out that Malo, even when his name was not on the CD cover in bold type, was an essential part of record dates in the past decade that I love and return to; Felix Hunot’s THE JAZZ MUSKETEERS, David Lukacs’ DREAM CITY, Attila Korb’s THE ROLLINI PROJECT, the second volume of SATCHMOCRACY by the Jerome Etcheberry Popstet. He’s recorded several times with another hero of mine, the tenor saxophonist Michel Pastre. The recorded evidence shows why he is someone the finest players want on their sessions: he is a fluent player, erudite but not stiff, able to read the charts, improvise nobly, and change course in two bars without ever faltering.

TAKING THE PLUNGE is his first CD as a leader. On it, Malo and a splendid yet spare rhythm section of Noe Huchard, piano; Raphael Dever, double bass; David Grebil, drums, offer a guided tour of the country where Past and Future are best friends and go out for breakfast:

Malo is not only a master of his unforgiving instrument but also a wonderful composer. Hear his THE HOUSE OF SISTERHOOD, a gentle homage to the worlds of Billy Strayhorn:

and his gracious, inquiring CANDLELIGHTS:

The first track on the CD is Malo’s version of Morton’s THE PEARLS that I am particularly fond of:

Malo wrote, “This project represents a significant milestone for me, as it has been brewing for about a decade, but its fruition took time. So, after 4 relocations, 3 lockdowns, and 2 children, it was time! It was decided: this album would not be a revolution in jazz history nor a methodical exercise in style. It would simply be an unpretentious reflection of everything I love and that influences me in music.”

The repertoire is deep in what some might call “traditional jazz”: Ellington’s CREOLE RHAPSODY, Louis’ SOMEDAY YOU’LL BE SORRY, Bix’s DAVENPORT BLUES, Morton’s THE CHANT, SINGIN’ THE BLUES, in addition to the performances above. They are both respectful melodic explorations and candid reimaginings. Occasionally the performances of songs we know so well have a slight tilt. What I am reminded of is the sensation I had, as a child, seeing my house from across the street: completely familiar but not in an expected place. When I crossed the street and went “home,” it was reassuring to be there, but I had seen my house be two places at once. A gift.

In addition to the familiar jazz classics, Malo also offers, for good measure, seven original compositions — and they are original, not simply improvisations on more famous harmonies. H also encouraged the rhythm section “to play more open, to be wilder, be themselves (keeping the swing and the groove of course),” while he is playing “himself.” He says, “You can still hear some influences as they are all my heroes.”

Malo’s own words get to the heart of things. “This album represents for me a musical exploration, a journey through the styles and emotions I have felt since my discovery of the cornet at the age of seven . . . . Without attempting to achieve stylistic feats, I have endeavored to bring a contemporary and unique touch while preserving the conciseness of the message.

We sought to make this collective exploration free, generous, and radiant.”

Those are imposing and noble words, but when you hear TAKING THE PLUNGE, I think you will find them an accurate description of the music, lilting, personal, and vivid, that Malo and friends have created.

May your happiness increase!

“THIS WILL MELT THE CHEESE WITHOUT A BROILER”: HAL SMITH’S EL DORADO JAZZ BAND — ANDY SCHUMM, NATHAN TOKUNAGA, BRANDON AU, JEFF BARNHART, BILL DENDLE, MIKIYA MATSUDA — at the JAZZ BASH BY THE BAY (March 1, 2024)

I feel that this rendition of MILENBERG JOYS by Hal Smith’s El Dorado Jazz Band, performed at the Jazz Bash by the Bay in Monterey, California, on March 1, 2024, should come with a warning label:

The delightful band is Hal Smith, washboard; Mikiya Matsuda, double bass; Jeff Barnhart, piano and vocal; Bill Dendle, banjo; Nathan Tokunaga, clarinet; Brandon Au, trombone; Andy Schumm, cornet:

I told you it was hot!

I will have more by this band to share with you, I promise. And they will be appearing at several more jazz festivals during this year, so you can factor that into your entertainment-planning.

May your happiness increase!

COLIN PERRY IS HAVING A REALLY GOOD TIME

And he is a generous fellow who wants us to join him. 

A friend said to me, “Have you heard Colin Perry?” and I said I hadn’t. She directed me to Colin’s music on Bandcamp, and I was enchanted. 

I must explain a few things. One, I have worked hard to drop the seasoned jazz enthusiast’s snobbish pose about people knew to me, what Philip Larkin called “Larkin’s Law,” that if you hadn’t heard about it in late adolescence, it wasn’t worthy of your time. Obviously, thousands of hours of wonderful music have impressed me since I was 17, and the same for the people making it. Two, I have in my head the imaginary Street Music Test: introduced to a new artist or group, I might think, “If I were walking in Manhattan (or Montmartre or Florence) and this band was around the corner, would I stop? And, more to the point, would I stay?”

Colin Perry won my musical heart rapidly. You can compile your lists of who he Sounds Like, to quote Barbara Lea — I think of Mister Morton and all kinds of singers, guitarists, entertainers, comedians — but he’s deep in all kinds of wonderful idioms and he sounds true to himself and true to the music he creates. And so expressive that every performance is three-dimensional, a dramatic piece that can stand on its own. Performing music in a theatrical idiom popular a century ago could very easily lead to caricature, broad strokes where the “modern” performer stands at an ironic distance, but Colin is alive in his songs. 

Here he is, with his long-time musical colleague, pianist Peter Mika, singng and playing I HATE A MAN LIKE YOU — a compelling performance from their recording HESITATION BLUES:

and here’s the more cheerful tale of redemption, BIG BAD BILL (IS SWEET WILLIAM NOW) from the same session.

Just the other day, Colin released another session, with his “Houserent Serenaders,” rocking through HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN in the best Washboard Rhythm Kings manner. (I love this.) 

And the very pretty LET’S PRETEND THAT THERE’S A MOON.

I am going to stop here, because my temptation would be to post every track on these CDs, thus depriving Colin and friends of whatever income they would otherwise receive. But I admire him and his work. You can read more about the sessions at Bandcamp; you can learn more about him and his roots at his website. He’s from Kentucky; he read Faulkner in college; he lives in Montreal.

Now I must thank my friend for the great gift of her suggestion! (And if you’re delighted, as I am, tell your pals, also.)

May your happiness increase!

“LOVE LETTER”: CASEY MacGILL AND EMINENT FRIENDS (MIKE DAVIS, EVAN ARNTZEN, DALTON RIDENHOUR, LUCA FILASTRO, JEN HODGE, EVAN PRICE, MIKIYA MATSUDA, HARVEY TIBBS, JAY RATTMAN, DAVID JELLEMA, JONATHAN DOYLE, JOSH DUNN, EVAN CHRISTOPHER and others . . . )

I know and respect Casey MacGill as a vibrant basket of talents: piano, ukulele, cornet, voice, compositions, arrangements . . . and not incidentally, as a great bandleader who gets his friends together and inspires them to heights. I’ve been writing admiringly of his work — recorded and in performance — for more than a decade now: here, here, here, here, and here. 

Superb music. But those links connect to live performances (inspired by and for dancers) and single CDs. Casey’s latest effort is his most ambitious and its scope is very rewarding. 

Here’s a romping sample — a loving portrait of Mister Waller:

and the sweetest evocation of Mister Morton:

and an irresistible Invitation to The Dance:

Now, let Casey tell you all about this new release and the history behind it:

Not everything in LOVE LETTER looks endearingly back at the great jazz past. Casey is capable of writing music with great emotional and stylistic variety, and it all has its own authenticity. Here’s FRONT PORCH ROCKIN’ — which, he says, “is the seed that started the project,” “a ballad in a relatively contemporary style. . . . written in 1989 with a Randy Newman flavor”:

and there’s the dark WHO’S GONNA BUY YOUR DRINKS TONIGHT? — aural film noir:

The mere numbers enclosed in this set are impressive: it contains 25 of the 47 pieces Casey plans to record, and it includes the contributions of 56 different musicians, with sessions in Seattle, New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tacoma, and elsewhere. You can explore more of Casey’s expansive musical imagination on YouTube, also Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal. And you can purchase the two-lp set or a digital download at Bandcamp. I suggest you investigate, because Casey and friends offer the best, highly rewarding surprises. 

May your happiness increase!

A DOOZY AND A HUMDINGER TOO: “ST. LOUIS RAG” by the NEW ORLEANS NIGHT OWLS (HAL SMITH, T. J. MULLER, BILL REINHART, MICHAEL GAMBLE, CHARLIE HALLORAN, KRIS TOKARSKI, RYAN CALLOWAY, and BILL MASON: Rivermont Records BSW-2266)

This brand-new CD, recorded in August of this year, is a walloping delight. I don’t write those words easily, but it’s one of those discs that on the first playing I would get stuck on a particular track and be unwilling to move forward until I’d saturated the room (in this case, the kitchen) with musical ardor.

And if you want to skip my words and move right to the cozy nest where the CD sleeps at night so that you can order a disc or download the music, be my guest here. When you scroll down that page, you can also hear samples of nine of the seventeen songs, for those of you who want to taste the curry before ordering it for dinner.

You can see the details above: songs (some real rarities and some that never get old) and the personnel (the best enthusiastic scholars of this music) but a few words from me might be in order. First, this CD would be a delightful addition if only for its evidence of the 2023 work of St. Louis cornetist Bill Mason (of the St. Louis Ragtimers) who is 94 and plays gorgeous hot horn alongside T. J. Muller on four tracks.

Second, the band swings mightily without ever losing its awareness of the material and the context. There is a good deal of youthful energy — this music was once the soundtrack of its period — but no one incorporates “contemporary” harmonies into these performances, which, by the way, are arranged by champion musician-scholar John Gill.

Third, a heresy. I grew up listening reverently to Bunk Johnson’s Columbia LAST TESTAMENT, to the Savoy reissues of Papa Mutt Carey’s band — both from 1947. I also heard Jelly Roll Morton’s transformations of ragtime on the Library of Congress recordings, Dick Wellstood’s improvisations and embellishments of the Joplin songbook, THE RED BACK BOOK, and Joshua Rifkin’s very well-behaved piano solos. So I know something about the recorded classics of the New Orleans Revival and onwards.

I found myself, in between pushing the button to make the CD player repeat the last track, muttering under my breath, “This is wonderful. Like Bunk and Mutt BUT BETTER.” I know. It’s heresy. And no doubt the faithful will be knocking on my door this evening with torches, rope, and all the accoutrements needed to burn me at the stake, a pile of flaming sheet music at my feet, for those words. But it’s true.

This band has immense love for the music and you can hear their happiness in playing it (and singing it — check out T.J.’s THE OCEANA ROLL and see if you can play it only once: I dare you) but they are not afraid to swing. Even though the cover has the words “ragtime classics” on the cover and no song is newer than 1914, this is not an overly-restrained exercise in archeology. This is New Orleans dance hall music, with a fellow named Morton sitting in at the piano in the modern guise of Mr. Tokarski. Some explorations of ancient music, with the best intentions, sound like someone in too-tight clothing, afraid to breathe deeply for fear of exploding a shirt-front. This band is having fun, balancing assurance, accuracy, and delicacy. And there’s not a dull note here.

I will also point out that I saw this band in performance at the October Redwood Coast Music Festival, and they were delightful (videos to come in a future posting) , so this CD is not the result of some recording-studio fakery. They know how.

The CD also reminds me in the best way that ragtime was once the despised low-class music, sneered at by those sure its syncopation would lead to debauchery at the very least. A one-minute search online found this: The St. Louis Republic on June 13, 1904, reported “the influence of ragtime music on the morals is like that of absinthe–it kills the better understanding,” and “the plague of trashy music is upon us like a fever epidemic, and its evil effects can be heard at all times and most places.”

Bring on the plague of trashy music. Evil effects have never sounded so good.

And to those who are planning to burn me alive, be aware that you have to be buzzed into our building and our door has a deadbolt. Perhaps you could find another heretic, someone who leaves the window open or the door unlocked?

Jokes aside, this is a wonderful sixty-four minutes of music. Don’t miss it. Again, it’s here.

Thanks to Hal Smith and his band for the lovely uplifting sounds, and thanks to Bryan Wright and Rivermont Records for making this possible.

May your happiness increase!

A LEAF, A SIDEWALK, PONCHARTRAIN, SHREVEPORT, PANAMA: HAL SMITH’S MORTONIA SEVEN at the REDWOOD COAST MUSIC FESTIVAL, OCTOBER 8, 2023 (Part Two)

Here’s what I wrote about Hal Smith’s Mortonia Seven a day ago. Still true.

Like wildflowers shooting through cracks in the sidewalk, jazz flourishes in the oddest settings. Put musicians in tuxedos in front of a rapt concert audience, and sometimes the music turns gelid.

When Hal Smith’s Mortonia Seven played the final set of the 2023 Redwood Coast Music Festival, it was in a hotel lounge, the musicians flat against the wall as if in a police lineup, with a loud crowd — several members had obviously practiced their piercing laughs at home in front of the mirror — and with automated lighting that reminded me of Nineties disco.

But the music soared and romped and strutted in the best ways.

Hal has immersed himself in Jelly Roll’s music for years, and he worships the recorded evidence, but he knows how to let a band be, so the musicians were not tied hand and foot by yards of manuscript paper. When I am recording other bands, sometimes I find a seat at the other end of the room from the drums: it was a real pleasure to sit close to Hal and observe the variety of sounds he creates.

In addition to Hal, the musicians are Dave Kosmyna, cornet and vocal; T.J. Muller, trombone; Dave Bennett, clarinet; Kris Tokarski, keyboard; Steve Pikal, double bass; Katie Cavera, banjo. Here’s the second half of their uplifting set.

MAPLE LEAF RAG, which Jelly played for Alan Lomax:

The beautiful PONCHARTRAIN:

SHREVEPORT STOMP, scored for clarinet, pianoforte, and percussion:

SIDEWALK BLUES:

Finally, a joyous PANAMA:

Hal and friends will be back for the 2024 Redwood Coast Music Festival. I’m already mentally planning. One doesn’t want to rush time away, but the 2023 version was such sustained joy that it’s like the richest cake in the bakery window, times a thousand.

May your happiness increase!

A PRETTY BABY, A NEW DANCE, KING BOLDEN and MORE: HAL SMITH’S MORTONIA SEVEN at the REDWOOD COAST MUSIC FESTIVAL, OCTOBER 8, 2023 (Part One)

Like wildflowers shooting through cracks in the sidewalk, jazz flourishes in the oddest settings. Put musicians in tuxedos in front of a rapt concert audience, and sometimes the music turns gelid. When Hal Smith’s Mortonia Seven played the final set of the 2023 Redwood Coast Music Festival, it was in a hotel lounge, the musicians flat against the wall as if in a police lineup, with a loud crowd — several members had obviously practiced their piercing laughs at home in front of the mirror — and with automated lighting that reminded me of Nineties disco.

But the music soared and romped and strutted in the best ways.

Hal has immersd himself in Jelly Roll’s music for years, and he worships the recorded evidence, but he knows how to let a band be, so the musicians were not tied hand and foot by yards of manuscript paper. When I am recording other bands, sometimes I find a seat at the other end of the room from the drums: it was a real pleasure to sit close to Hal and observe the variety of sounds he creates.

In addition to Hal, the musicians are Dave Kosmyna, cornet and vocal; T.J. Muller, trombone; Dave Bennett, clarinet; Kris Tokarski, keyboard; Steve Pikal, double bass; Katie Cavera, banjo. Here’s the first half of their uplifting set.

PRETTY BABY:

SMOKE-HOUSE BLUES:

BALLIN’ THE JACK (vocal, Kosmyna). In another life, Dave is Professor Kosmyna. Watch how he teaches the crowd how to do this new dance: I’ll bet his reviews on “Rate My Professor” are spectacular:

BUDDY BOLDEN’S BLUES (vocal, Muller). T.J. Muller sings mournfully about the New Orleans legal system, among other encumbrances:

STEAMBOAT STOMP:

The second half was just as fine. No doubt. California was not always kind to Jelly, but the Mortonia Seven thrives out there. Hal and his colleagues will be among the stars at next year’s Redwood Coast Music Festival: it’s not too early to make plans.

May your happiness increase!

PIANO IN THE PARLOR: A JAMES DAPOGNY RECITAL, PART TWO, WITH JOHN SHERIDAN (Athenaeum Hotel, Chautauqua, New York, September 15, 2007)

PIANO IN THE PARLOR: A JAMES DAPOGNY RECITAL, PART ONE (Athenaeum Hotel, Chautauqua, New York, September 15, 2007)

That’s the first part of the recital: four beautiful performances by James Dapogny, many words from me.

James Dapogny at Jazz at Chautauqua, September 2014. Photograph by Michael Steinman.

Here are the three remaining precious performances: two solos by Jim, one bravura duet with John Sheridan.

Jelly Roll Morton’s CHICAGO BREAKDOWN:

The Johnny Burke – Jimmy Van Heusen GOT THE MOON IN MY POCKET (1942) from the film MY FAVORITE SPY. To orient the listener, here’s Bing Crosby’s recording of the song — and, yes, that trumpet interlude is Andy Secrest:

Jim picked this one off the sheet music tables (price, one dollar a song sheet) that were a treasure-hunter’s dream at the Chautauqua weekend: who could ignore a Burke-Van Heusen song? His second chorus is a delightful lesson in improvisation:

Joe Boughton, the imagination and commander-in-chief of Chautauqua, had the logical and crowd-pleasing way to make the transition from one pianist to the next at these parlor sessions, where perhaps five pianists played half-hour interludes: the last performance of pianist A’s set would be a duet, four hands at one piano, with pianist B. And so it came to pass . . . RUNNIN’ WILD with John Sheridan:

That applause, like the music, was genuine.

More about Jim here, written the day after he left for another neighborhood.

And Jim’s contributions continue to enrich and amaze: this CD will be released September 1:

May your happiness increase!

WALDO-HANCOCK, HEATING EXPERTS, INC.

It’s not a new HVAC company with a fleet of trucks, but Terry Waldo, piano and vocal; Colin Hancock, cornet, alto saxophone, vocal, raising the temperature in the nicest, most memorable ways. I posted the first part of their intimate recital here.

Now, here’s the rest.

SAN:

KING PORTER STOMP:

SWEET SUBSTITUTE:

FROGGIE MOORE (or FROG-I-MORE) RAG:

HERE COMES THE HOT TAMALE MAN (without vocal interjections, alas. Next time.):

I AIN’T GOT NOBODY:

MY BLUE HEAVEN:

Heavenly, and elegantly down-home. Raucous music by two scholars, and the reverse.

May your happiness increase!

MY FRIEND CHARLES WENT TO A PARTY: COLIN HANCOCK and TERRY WALDO in DUET (Part One)

I can’t cover the entire hot jazz scene by myself, so I have help from dear friends: a dozen years ago, RaeAnn Hopkins Berry; more recently, Laura Beth Wyman of Wyman Video and my secret weapon, Charles Schultz. You’d know Charles’ work from his 2018 trip to Chicago where he recorded a duet of Kim Cusack and Andy Schumm for us: the first part is here.

Charles and I keep in touch, but he hasn’t been videoing for some time. Thus it was a delightful surprise when he sent me an email with fifteen — count ’em — fifteen hot performances for me to share on JAZZ LIVES. And a long letter, which I will summarize.

One of Charles’ long-time friends goes by the name of “Queenie McGillicuddy,” since one side of her family came from Scotland. (The name on her driver’s license is much more prosaic, but “Queenie” is what she’s known by when she dances in competitions.) She’s a solid early jazz and ragtime fan, and when she celebrated a major birthday in the spring, she wanted live jazz at the party. Queenie aims high, so she and hired Terry Waldo, piano, vocal, and the occasional original composition, and the heroic Youngblood Colin Hancock, who sang, played cornet and alto saxophone.

Queenie is wary of revealing too much online since some of her friends have gotten spammed and hacked, so she told Charles that he could only tell me (for publication) that the nearest big city to her is Mt. Airy, Pennsylvania. But she’s happy that the videos from her party will be shared with other fans.

Charles said that the conditions for videoing were nearly ideal: bright light, a good seat, and a quiet small audience, but there was no room for his tripod, so, in his own words, “some of the videos go up and down a little.”

But they’re wonderful.

MAPLE LEAF RAG:

OH, BY JINGO! with Vocal Chorus and Vocal Effects by the Ensemble:

RUNNIN’ WILD:

SQUEEZE ME:

Terry’s own LET’S PRAY AGAINST SOMEBODY, where he gives Tom Lehrer some solid competition:

Ten more to come. I sent Charles the biggest box of chocolates I could find on Amazon (he has sweet tooth) as thanks from all of us.

This just in (two hours after I posted this). Charles wrote me a gentle rebuke-reminder, which I quote in full. “Michael, thanks for posting these performances. So much fun and love! But you left out something really important. Both Terry and Colin are real scholars of the music they play. Many people know Terry’s book, THIS IS RAGTIME, but you should have told people about Colin’s latest project — one of many! — a two-CD set that will be issued on July 14 by Archeophone Records, featuring the memorable surprising lovely work of Loren McMurray. People think that jazz on record really began with King Oliver and Kid Ory, but these sides from 1920-22 are delightful and never archaic-sounding. They burst through the speakers. You can send people https://www.archeophone.com/catalogue/loren-mcmurray-moaninest-moan/ . Sorry to lecture you, but the McMurray set is a wonder — music that people haven’t heard AND deep (but never stuffy) research.”

You heard it here first!

May your happiness increase!

“HAPPY MEMORIES OF THE BEFORE TIMES,” or FOUR BRIGHT SPARKS PLAY MISTER JELLY: ALBANIE FALLETTA, JON-ERIK KELLSO, EVAN ARNTZEN, JEN HODGE (Cafe Bohemia, January 9, 2020)

One of the great rock songs in classic hot music: that is, you’ll rock back and forth in your chair. Guaranteed. And here’s a splendid version by four of the best: Albanie Falletta, resonator guitar, vocal, tour guide; Jon-Erik Kellso, Puje trumpet; Evan Arntzen, clarinet; Jen Hodge, string bass.

Boundless enthusiasm and contrapuntal joy free of charge.

This was performed at Cafe Bohemia, 15 Barrow Street, New York City, before the lights went out on Broadway. Happily the city and the music blaze again all over town.

Albanie explains it all, but if you crave an even more detailed socio-geographical-musical history of “Milneburg,” the New Orleans neighborhood that the song is named for, visit here. And about the composer credits: the introduction is by Jelly Roll Morton (thus my title) appended to the New Orleans Rhythm Kings’ composition GOLDEN LEAF STRUT, which is its own universe.

But the rollicking music is its own glorious explanation:

That satisfies all of our daily food group requirements and more.

May your happiness increase!

“OH, MISTER JELLY!” (Part Three): THE MORTONIA SEVEN LAYS IT DOWN at the REDWOOD COAST MUSIC FESTIVAL: HAL SMITH, DAVE KOSMYNA, DAVE BENNETT, TJ MULLER, KRIS TOKARSKI, JOHN GILL, SAM ROCHA (October 1, 2022)

Here are the final three performances from the rocking set performed by Hal Smith’s MORTONIA SEVEN at the Redwood Coast Music Festival — jazz of such a high order that I am sorry I caught only nine songs by this band.

Mister Morton looks over Mister Smith’s shoulder.

At the Redwood Coast Music Festival, they performed MILENBERG JOYS, SMOKE-HOUSE BLUES, BALLIN’ THE JACK, BLUE BLOOD BLUES, STEAMBOAT STOMP, MAMIE’S BLUES, visible and audible here and three others:

FROGGIE MOORE RAG (or FROG-I-MORE if you prefer):

NEW ORLEANS BLUES:

and for a rousing climax, PANAMA:

I look forward to hearing this band at festivals in the year to come.

May your happiness increase!

“OH, MISTER JELLY!” (Part Two): THE MORTONIA SEVEN LAYS IT DOWN at the REDWOOD COAST MUSIC FESTIVAL: HAL SMITH, DAVE KOSMYNA, DAVE BENNETT, TJ MULLER, KRIS TOKARSKI, JOHN GILL, SAM ROCHA (October 1, 2022)

Mister Morton and Mister Smith

For the first part of this wonderful set, frankly irresistible — MILENBERG JOYS, SMOKE-HOUSE BLUES, BALLIN’ THE JACK — visit here. And here are the next three.

BLUE BLOOD BLUES:

STEAMBOAT STOMP:

MAMIE’S BLUES (vocal by John Gill):

A wonderful band devoted to the music of Jelly Roll Morton and the music he and his bands played — electrifying, exact, and loose all at once. Led by Hal Smith on drums, the Mortonia Seven is Dave Kosmyna, cornet and vocal; TJ Muller, trombone; Dave Bennett, clarinet; Kris Tokarski, piano; John Gill, banjo and vocal; Sam Rocha, string bass and helicon.

Some words. Jelly Roll Morton was not happy to have his music popularized by others during his lifetime (think of Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman, and others selling millions of copies of KING PORTER STOMP and WOLVERINE BLUES) but in some way there was a Morton “revival” going on for the last decade of his life. And with good reason: the compositions themselves are substantial, full of surprises that haven’t aged, and the recorded performances are fascinating marriages of hot improvisation and established structures.

But because Morton was such a powerful personality — man, composer, arranger, giver of dicta that should be obeyed — tributes to him have often not been easy or their results satisfying. Sometimes ensembles have been reverent and obedient: we must play it exactly the way the Red Hot Peppers did on the record, and those results are dazzling in their own way but I am not sure Omer Simeon would have liked people treating his solo as holy writ, to be repeated forever, with musicians subsuming their own identities in those manuscripts and recordings. (And Morton’s recordings have their own vivid force, not easy to replicate.) The other extreme, with a bunch of good people “jamming” on WOLVERINE BLUES and SWEET SUBSTITUTE, can be thrilling, but the results are at a distance from the exactitude Morton brought to his gigs and the recording studio.

The Mortonia Seven takes some and leaves some from both worlds: you can easily hear the outlines and structures of the original compositions and recordings, executed with style and grace, but the musicians’ personalities come through whole. And the result is lively, not studied — hot and sweet, raucous and melancholy, as the music demands.

There are more performances from this set that I will share with you. For now, I’m going to watch these again, mop my brow, and grin. Join me!

May your happiness increase!

“OH, MISTER JELLY!” (Part One): THE MORTONIA SEVEN LAYS IT DOWN at the REDWOOD COAST MUSIC FESTIVAL: HAL SMITH, DAVE KOSMYNA, DAVE BENNETT, TJ MULLER, KRIS TOKARSKI, JOHN GILL, SAM ROCHA (October 1, 2022)

Mister Morton and Mister Smith

Get ready for the room temperature to increase steadily. Music first, words after.

MILENBERG JOYS (vocal by John Gill):

SMOKE-HOUSE BLUES:

BALLIN’ THE JACK (vocal by Dave Kosmyna):

A wonderful band devoted to the music of Jelly Roll Morton and the music he and his bands played — electrifying, exact, and loose all at once. Led by Hal Smith on drums, the Mortonia Seven is Dave Kosmyna, cornet and vocal; TJ Muller, trombone; Dave Bennett, clarinet; Kris Tokarski, piano; John Gill, banjo and vocal; Sam Rocha, string bass and helicon.

Some words. Jelly Roll Morton was not happy to have his music popularized by others during his lifetime (think of Fletcher Henderson, Benny Goodman, and others selling millions of copies of KING PORTER STOMP and WOLVERINE BLUES) but in some way there was a Morton “revival” going on for the last decade of his life. And with good reason: the compositions themselves are substantial, full of surprises that haven’t aged, and the recorded performances are fascinating marriages of hot improvisation and established structures.

But because Morton was such a powerful personality — man, composer, arranger, giver of dicta that should be obeyed — tributes to him have often not been easy or their results satisfying. Sometimes ensembles have been reverent and obedient: we must play it exactly the way the Red Hot Peppers did on the record, and those results are dazzling in their own way but I am not sure Omer Simeon would have liked people treating his solo as holy writ, to be repeated forever, with musicians subsuming their own identities in those manuscripts and recordings. (And Morton’s recordings have their own vivid force, not easy to replicate.) The other extreme, with a bunch of good people “jamming” on WOLVERINE BLUES and SWEET SUBSTITUTE, can be thrilling, but the results are at a distance from the exactitude Morton brought to his gigs and the recording studio.

The Mortonia Seven takes some and leaves some from both worlds: you can easily hear the outlines and structures of the original compositions and recordings, executed with style and grace, but the musicians’ personalities come through whole. And the result is lively, not studied — hot and sweet, raucous and melancholy, as the music demands.

There are a half-dozen more performances from this set that I will share with you. For now, I’m going to watch these three again, mop my brow, and grin. Join me!

May your happiness increase!

DICK AND DAVE DUET (September 1982)

“How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” is too difficult a question and even for celestial beings, perhaps a little cramped. “How much joy can two superb improvisers pack into ten minutes?” is an easier question since we have the tangible evidence.

This delightful interlude — THE CRAVE / GRANDPA’S SPELLS / IF DREAMS COME TRUE — two by Jelly Roll Morton, and a classic stride test piece by Edgar Sampson that works beautifully on its own (think of Billie’s version) were performed in concert (thanks to Dick Gibson) at the Paramount Theatre in Colorado, sometime between September 4-6, 1982. Dick Hyman, Dave Frishberg, pianos, if you were guessing:

Everyone who’s immersed in this music bows to Dick Hyman, part Eminence, part Keyboard Gazelle. For spirited inventiveness, only Art Tatum has surpassed him. But because Dave Frishberg was rarely in the foreground as a solo pianist, especially after his success as a sardonic-whimsical singer-songwriter, he’s been underestimated for too long. But he was a peerless soloist and accompanist, with this own mixture of Duke-Rowles-Basie, which once heard is unforgettable.

Here, he is shoulder-to-shoulder with Hyman, musically and fraternally. These ten minutes are expert and exact, but they are also joyous play — a too-brief interlude. But now you can share the grinning as well, and return at leisure.

May your happiness increase!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BENT PERSSON!

November 2014, Bent Persson (right) and a humble admirer at the Whitley Bay Jazz Party. Photo by Andrew Wittenborn.

BENT PERSSON is a true hero of mine, and I know I have company around the world. I think of his friendly kind enthusiasm in person — he is ready to laugh at the world’s absurdities — and the soaring trumpet player, at once exact and passionate, who makes Louis and his world come alive in the brightest ways.

I first met Bent in the way that we used to find our heroes in the pre-internet era, sonically. In the middle Seventies, I was passionately collecting records. That meant that I would spend the day in New York City visiting record stores, coming home when I had used up my money. I prowled through Happy Tunes One and Two, Dayton’s, and J&R Records near City Hall, where I spotted a record on a label I hadn’t heard of before (“Kenneth Records”) featuring Bent Persson (someone new) playing his orchestral versions of the Louis Armstrong 50 Hot Choruses book published in Chicago, 1927. Perhaps it was $6.99, the price of two DJ copies or cutouts, but I took the risk. It was electrifying, joyous, and hot beyond my wildest expectations. Here’s what it sounded like.

HIGH SOCIETY, in duet with pianist Ulf Johansson Werre (1977):

I kept on buying every record (then CD) on which he appeared, and he visited the US now and again — although I wasn’t at liberty to meet him — to make sublime hot music, some of it captured in videos from the Manassas Jazz Festival.

CHINATOWN, with Kenny Davern, Jim Dapogny, Tomas Ornberg, and Steve Jordan (1988):

and duets with Jim Dapogny, CHICAGO BREAKDOWN and BLACK BOTTOM STOMP (1985):

At some point, I had acquired a computer and an email account, and was writing for THE MISSISSIPPI RAG, so I remember starting a correspondence with Bent — admiring and curious on my part, friendly and gracious on his. In the intervening years of record collecting, I understood that Bent was a Renaissance man of hot trumpet (and cornet): yes, Louis, but also Bix, Red, Cootie, and others, and no mere copyist, but a great understander and emulator, always himself while letting the light of his heroes shine through him. A great scholar as well, although that might be too obvious to write.

Finally the circumstances of my life changed so that I could fly — literally and figuratively — and in 2009 I made my way to the Whitley Bay Jazz Party, which I attended every year until 2016, video camera at the ready, approaching my heroes, shyly beaming love and gratitude at them. Bent knew me slightly from our correspondence, but I recall coming up to him, introducing myself, hugging him, and saying that he had been a hero of mine for decades. He took it all with good grace.

I created more than a hundred videos of Bent in that series of delightful parties, and I will share only four: you can find the rest on YouTube with a little earnest searching.

CLEMENTINE with Norman Field, Spats Langham, Frans Sjostrom (2009):

DUSK with Frans and Jacob Ullberger (2009):

LOOKIN’ GOOD BUT FEELIN’ BAD with the Red Hot Reedwarmers (2009):

and for an incendiary closer, DING DONG DADDY with Enrico Tomasso, Spats Langham, Kristoffer Kompen, and other luminaries (2015):

Please don’t let the apparent historical nature of these videos fool you into thinking that Bent has hung up his horns and dumped his valve oil into the trash.

He is still performing, and there were gigs with BENTS JAZZ COCKTAIL as recently as mid-August (what a well-dressed crew!) Visit Bent’s Facebook page for the most current news of his schedule.

This is the most fragmentary celebration of Bent, a man devoted to his art but also a first-rate human being who beams when he talks about the family he adores. If he is new to you, I hope you have been as uplifted and electrified by his music presented here as I have been for almost fifty years. If he is a shining light to you, here is another occasion to thank him for being and sustaining the glories of jazz.

It is, although across too many miles, another hug, so well-deserved.

May your happiness increase!

The CHAMBER JAZZ CONSORT: TALENT DESERVING WIDER RECOGNITION!

Danyel Nicholas, clarinet, eyeglasses, cufflinks, wall hanging, inscrutable expression, table, chair. Location and occasion unknown.

It’s my pleasure to present a group to you, its members expert and passionate although not all that well-known, its instrumentation clarinet / soprano saxophone, viola, and double bass.

Some of you might say, “That’s seriously unorthodox,” and perhaps you’d be right since groups with this instrumentation aren’t the usual. But the question of “orthodox” instrumentation has long been shaped by players’ desires to reproduce a certain desirable sound — whether Bob Crosby’s Bobcats or Charlie Parker’s quintets. And, of course, the marketplace — music as recognizable reproducible product — was a driving force, so that the Benny Goodman trio gave rise to other clarinet-piano-drums groups.

But left to their own devices, musicians looked for other sympathetic souls who could play. Alto, clarinet, guitar, string bass? Sure. Cornet, bass saxophone, piano, guitar? Let’s go.

Hear for yourself.

Goodness, don’t they swing? — with such dancing rhythms, shifting tonalities, and an overall translucency. And the CONSORT is such a sweet triumph — its precursor is the Basie rhythm section — of complete unity and complete individuality all at once.

I’ll have another. How about something slightly more unexpected?

Why stop now?

What we loosely call “cyberspace” is like the grab bag at the children’s party: sometimes you get a neatly wrapped package of worn socks; sometimes you find a jewel.

I first met Danyel Nicholas (clarinet, soprano saxophone, and imagination) when he left a wonderfully articulated comment on a video of the EarRegulars. I wanted to find out who this thinking person was, and instigated a conversation, which led me to the videos of the CHAMBER JAZZ CONSORT, also featuring Micha Daniels, viola, and Roland Effgen, double bass. The video performances were a sweet ardent breeze to my sensibilities, and I asked Danyel to tell me where all this light-hearted expert fervent joy had come from:

Chamber Jazz Consort was formed after I came back from New York (where I studied with Mark Lopeman and, to a lesser extent, with the late Phil Schaap–history is a very important part of music as my favourite composers and even players tend to be all historic) wrote some arrangements and tried to re-vitalise my old swing band I had left behind and that John Defferary had kind of inherited but was no longer interested in. Those cats however couldn’t handle the amount of writing and detailed notation. Then came the pandemic and we decided to shrink to the minimum size. I had grown up “bilingual” in musical terms and always drifted towards substantial compositions (Jelly Roll, Ellington, Benny Carter) in Jazz. I am not so much interested in Third Stream as Jazz clearly already is a third stream, but I think form and instrumentation are not definitive yet, as many jazz musicians simply don’t have the time to study Lully or Schubert. I like counterpoint and try to write obbligato accompaniment that is not an organic version of band in a box. That’s why I am particularly fond of the EarRegulars and always relished the occasions when Scott Robinson played Trumbauer on a Sarrusophone.

I pursued Danyel a little more, saying that my readers — and I — wanted to know, “Where on earth did this fellow come from?” and got this witty reply:

What were I & where? That’s a tough one!——
In the 80s I studied composition and played piano, in the 90s lute and viol (in Frankfurt/Germany at Clara Schuman’s conservatory…) but played mostly modern jazz (clarinet & alto) as nobody here was seriously playing earlier jazz, or any early music for that matter, especially in my generation. I had however loved Ellington, Jelly, Henderson, or the Missourians ever since friends of my parents, when I was “knee-high to a duck,” gave me stacks of strange records they thought I might like. I did!

In the late 90s I published a book on “exotic” instruments for a museum and taught the clarinet. I also started to collect historic clarinets like the kind Bigard or Simeon used.

In the “oughties” I worked with New Orleans-style people (like Trevor Richards, John Defferary to name only those you might have heard of) and worked endlessly on mouthpieces. In the teens I tried to run a Kansas City-style swing band playing mostly for lindy hoppers, then, in New York, I met Mark Lopeman (playing lead alto with the Nighthawks that evening), took lessons with him for about 2 years (about 3 hours a week!) and realised that writing jazz was the right thing for me to do. Mark is the greatest transcriber I have ever met. And one of the finest reeds! Back in Europe I played with all sorts of musicians who would tell me they’d rather improvise because they didn’t care how the inner voices moved or how the instrumentation sounded. So I felt like Jelly Roll! Hooray!

During the pandemic (hardly any gigs for two years!) I rehearsed the Chamber Jazz Consort and practiced French music of the Louis XIV era.
I also try to keep the “Red Hot Hottentots” alive, an ancient German hot jazz ensemble (with Colin Dawson).

Next I might embark with Capt. Gulliver…

I don’t want Danyel, Micha, and Roland to embark anywhere except for a series of gigs, a concert tour, CD and DVD recording sessions, festival appearances. In the ideal world, they would be the “other” group on a concert bill with a chamber group playing Brahms and Dvorak.

Practical matters. Danyel’s YouTube channel can be found here. As I write this, he has a mingy eleven subscribers, including me. We can do better. And he has posted more than a dozen thrilling videos . . . with a broad imaginative reach. Here’s one I love:

I love this brave friendly wise quirky band, and want them to be better known. Tell your friends!

May your happiness increase!

“MY NEW RECRUIT IS MIGHTY SWEET AND CUTE,” THE ROMANTIC MISTER MORTON: JON-ERIK KELLSO, HARVEY TIBBS, MATT MUNISTERI, NEAL MINER (The Ear Out, October 3, 2021)

At the end of last summer, one of the great pleasures was the Sunday sessions created by the EarRegulars outside of the Ear Inn on 326 Spring Street. I’ve been sending their wonderful music out slowly, a performance at a time, hoping to come to the end of the 2021 gifts as the 2022 summer sessions begin again. Cue Helen Humes singing I CAN DREAM, CAN’T I?

On October 3, the EarRegulars were Jon-Erik Kellso, trumpet; Matt Munisteri, guitar; Harvey Tibbs, trombone; Neal Miner, string bass. And here they are musing their way, collectively and singly, through Jelly Roll Morton’s SWEET SUBSTITUTE, with delicacy and fervor:

Accept no substitutes. Ask for The EarRegulars wherever better music can be found. (They have resumed their Sunday evening sessions indoors, from 8-11, loosely, and those gatherings at 326 Spring Street are also life-changing, in subtle ways.)

May your happiness increase!

IS THERE A (VIDEO) DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE? JON-ERIK KELLSO, HARVEY TIBBS, MATT MUNISTERI, NEAL MINER (The Ear Out, November 3, 2021)

Life is a banquet of imperfections, as I can tell you from experience.

And I am about to offer you a performance that is sonically restorative while at the same time it is visually flawed. For only the second time in its mechanical-technical life, one of my cameras has proven rebellious: about twenty-five seconds in to this “video,” the image freezes and remains a still photograph.

But the music pulses delightfully on.

It would have pained me (and perhaps the shade of Ferdinand LeMenthe) to have consigned this to the darkness . . . so I present it to you here with the caveats above. It’s lovely rousing music, with daring solos and splendid ensemble interplay by The EarRegulars, people who know how to do the Charleston without leaving their seats: Jon-Erik Kellso, trumpet (perhaps his Harry B. Jay model?); Harvey Tibbs, trombone; Matt Munisteri, guitar; Neal Miner, string bass.

All this medicalized joy took place at The Ear Out, 326 Spring Street, Soho, New York City, on Sunday, November 3, 2021. Now you know it all, and can savor the healing powers of hot jazz:

As to the rebellious camera, perhaps it will go to an over-55 senior community, where it can tell tales of the many hours of music it recorded for all of us.

May your happiness increase!

MORE HOT SOUNDS FROM The CHICAGO CELLAR BOYS at The 2019 JUVAE MINI-FEST: ANDY SCHUMM, JOHN OTTO, PAUL ASARO, JOHNNY DONATOWICZ, DAVE BOCK (March 30, 2019)

For relief from my attempts to tidy my apartment (think Sisyphus with myopia and a short attention span) I turn to the more cheerful task of tidying my YouTube archives.

I have preserved somewhere around eight thousand videos, recorded from 2007 to this summer, and some of them are labeled in ways that make them elusive. But you and I benefit from my disorder, since wonders emerge and can be shared.

March 2019 seems like decades ago, but it wasn’t — in calendar time. Because of kind invitations from the Juvae Jazz Society, I found myself in Decatur, Illinois, for a one-day jazz festival that also featured Petra van Nuis and her Recession Seven and local hero Bob Havens. I video-recorded several sets by the Chicago Cellar Boys, and I think four posts on JAZZ LIVES resulted. But here are some you ain’t tuned in to yet. The CCB are Andy Schumm, cornet, clarinet, saxophones, arrangements; John Otto, clarinet, alto saxophone; Paul Asaro, piano, vocal; Dave Bock, tuba; Johnny Donatowicz, banjo and guitar.

GULF COAST BLUES:

I FOUND A NEW BABY:

WILD MAN BLUES:

BEER GARDEN BLUES comes from 1933, and celebrates the end of Prohibition: Clarence Williams gave it new lyrics and it became SWING, BROTHER, SWING a few years later:

I understand the CCB played splendidly at the most recent Bix Festival — may they once again delight us at many venues. Until then, I have posted nearly sixty performances by this flexible, inventive hot group, so there’s much more to delight you.

May your happiness increase!

“I LIKE IT, I LIKE IT”: A NEW CD BY JOHN ROYEN’S NEW ORLEANS RHYTHM: KIM CUSACK, STEVE PIKAL, JOSHUA GOUZY, HAL SMITH (2020)

If the names above are familiar to you — John Royen, piano; Kim Cusack, clarinet; Joshua Gouzy or Steve PIkal, string bass; Hal Smith, drums — then my copying Louis’ delighted exhortation will make perfect sense. To go a little deeper, here is a new CD, titled GREEN SWAMP, a Darnell Howard original. It contains seventeen performances and was beautifully recorded by New Orleans’ own Tim Stambaugh.

But perhaps four minutes of music would be a joy-spreading interlude at this point — a Don Ewell original, SOUTH SIDE STRUT, with Steve on string bass. (Don, as you might know, was John’s mentor: no one better.)

I have a familiar pride in this issue, because I wrote the notes:

In a society in love with newness, to call something “old-fashioned” may seem an insult.  Doesn’t everyone want the latest thing?  But to me that expression is another name for timeless beauty and virtue, creations that will last.  This CD is terribly “old-fashioned” and I am damned glad of it.

This music is melodic, swinging, affectionate.  It romps.  It grins.  The sounds embrace the listener; what comes out of the speaker sounds good, and that is no small thing (in Condon-terms, it is honey rather than broken glass to the ear).  Without gimmicks or jokes, the band says, “Come along with us.  We promise you a good time.”  Most of the tunes (“tunes” is another old-fashioned word, one I’d hate to lose) are medium-tempo, a little faster or slower: good for spur-of-the-moment-shoeless dancing in the kitchen.      

Captain John Royen doesn’t have that honorific only because he pilots a boat; his playing is wonderfully decisive: you know where you are at all times, and the trip is both elegant and exciting, as he steers by the lights of Ewell and Morton.  The Captain is also that reassuring evolutionary accomplishment: a two-handed orchestral pianist.  He doesn’t pound or race: you can set your clock by him.  His colleagues Pikal and Gouzy are just as reliable: they offer a limber rhythmic platform, flexible and stimulating.  Hal Smith is a master of swing and sonic variety: every note both propels and rings as he plays “for the comfort of the band.”  Finally, there’s the unequalled Kim Cusack, whose tone is lemonade in July, who creates memorable variations with lightness and fervor.  The repertoire is honorable melodies that are both venerable and fresh.  By the way, this is a band, not simply four soloists in the same room: listeners with even mildly functioning imaginations will sense these musicians smiling approval through every track.

I used to write long liner notes, supplying biography (Google made that redundant) and song origins (ditto), explaining musical nuances.  My new goal is to write notes that can be read in less than three minutes and twenty seconds, the time it took to play a 78 rpm record.  If more explanation is necessary, one of us has failed.  Not the band, I assure you.  Now, get to listening!  Joy awaits.

The other performances on the disc are I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT YOU’RE IN LOVE WITH ME / SQUEEZE ME / BLUES MY NAUGHTY SWEETIE GIVES TO ME / HONEY HUSH / I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR YOU / SWEET SUBSTITUTE / HERE COMES THE BAND / OLD FASHIONED LOVE / PRETTY BABY / LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME / MONDAY DATE / BLUE, TURNING GREY OVER YOU / SAVE IT, PRETTY MAMA / BUSH STREET SCRAMBLE / DELMAR DRAG / GREEN SWAMP.

You can purchase the CD from either Hal or John at their websites — www.neworleansjazzpiano.com or www.halsmithmusic.com — for $20 postpaid. It’s quite wonderful. You heard it here first.

May your happiness increase!

DANCE WHILE PURRING, AND THE REVERSE: HAL SMITH’S JAZZOLOGISTS (2021)

A long prelude, but with a point.

Julian Barnes has an extraordinary story in his 2005 collection THE LEMON TABLE, “A Short History of Hairdressing,” in which the narrator recounts his life as a series of haircuts.

It amuses me to offer my life in a few lines as a purchaser of recorded music:

Fifty-five years ago, when my mother went shopping in a department store, I ran off and bought a Louis Armstrong long-playing record for $2.79 plus tax.  Thirty years ago, I stopped off at Tower Records on my way home from work and bought an Arbors or a Concord CD for $16 and hid it in my briefcase so it wouldn’t be seen and cause an argument.  In the past twelve months, although I still buy music from Amazon and eBay and the musicians themselves, the music cornucopia has become Bandcamp.com, where one can hear and purchase all sorts of divinely inspired improvised music — from Bob Matthews to Brad Linde and Freddie Redd, to Gordon Au, Keenan McKenzie, Jonathan Doyle, The Vitality Five, The Dime Notes, Andrew Oliver, Michael McQuaid and two dozen more . . . and now, a wonderful addition to Hal Smith’s catalogue of inspiring music.

This isn’t a collection of howling, meowing, and hissing: no need to open the window and shout “STOP THAT!” at the feline orgy below.  Rather, it’s hot New Orleans dance music.  Hal [one of the greatest swinging drummers on the planet, and that’s no stage joke] says, of this brand-new session, “a sound somewhere between Bunk’s band (if Don Ewell had been the pianist) and the 1964 ‘Jazzology Poll Winners.'”

Filet of soul — not canned or freeze-dried.  I confess to always entering into an emotional relationship with music — those rare and delicious effusions that make me feel warmly embraced.  Hal’s new disc does that.

Here, listen.  And I believe that Bandcamp waives its fees on Friday, so the musicians get more of the hot savory pie.

The facts, ma’am (thinking of Jack Webb, if you remember):

Hal Smith (drums, leader); Clint Baker (trumpet, vocal on MY LITTLE GIRL); John Gill (trombone); Ryan Calloway (clarinet); Kris Tokarski (piano); Bill Reinhart (banjo); Katie Cavera (string bass).  YOU ALWAYS HURT THE ONE YOU LOVE / ARKANSAS BLUES / BLUE MASK STOMP / HONEY BABE / SAN SUE STRUT / BLACK CAT ON THE FENCE / BLUE FOR YOU, BUNK / MY LITTLE GIRL //

Jake Hanna said — often — “What are you waiting for the last chorus of a tune to swing?  Start swinging from the beginning!” and this band does, no matter what the tempo.  Twenty years ago, a work-colleague would say, “You ROCK!” as

Before I heard a note, I was happy with the tune list.  Occasionally I think, “If I hear one more JUST A CLOSER WALK WITH ME or PLEASE DON’T TALK ABOUT ME WHEN I’M GONE or SI TU VOIS MA MERE I will bang my head into the wall — don’t try this, it ruins the paint — but the avoidance of tediously overplayed songs was immediately refreshing.  Aside from the homage to Bunk Johnson’s repertoire, there are affectionate glances at Messrs. Morton, Manone, Bechet, and others.

It’s a band with New Orleans in their hearts — strong melodic improvisations, a pulsating supportive rhythm section, and a delightfully idiosyncratic front line making SOUNDS.  There is a refreshing reliance on ensemble playing, and a return to one of my favorite things: one player offering a straight but swinging melody while the other improvises around it.

I said it was warm — and warming — music.  I hear other bands full of players I admire hewing so closely to the recordings that the collective effect is technically dazzling but a little cool to the touch.  The Jazzologists know the score (pun intended) but they romp all on their own.  And they don’t fall into the reverent trap of imitating the limitations of venerable senior players.  They play.

And it’s a triumph of passion as well as technology.  Yes, it was created remotely, with players in six cities — but the groove is such that you wouldn’t know it.

Not for the first time in my adult life have I lamented the disconnect between my ears and heart (those parts that receive the music and revel in it) and my rather stiff stubborn legs.  But hearing this disc, I would happily dance around the kitchen, not caring how goofy I might look.  It’s that inspiring.

To be a good critic, one must find flaws, or so it seems.  That was hard with this session — now on its fifth playing as I write this — but I did find one thing to complain about.  I wish this had been a digital two-CD set.  Maybe in a few months (what is the feline gestation period?) there can be Kittens?

Swing, you cats! — here.

May your happiness increase!