As you look over your collection of blues CD's and greedily contemplate your next album purchase, be honest with yourself: Do you really need another album of guitar shredding and ten-minute songs? Even if you would answer that question with a big "you betcha," most people still could use a little diversity in their blues records.
The Jack Brass Band comes to your rescue. A New Orleans-style brass band from Minnesota, the Jack Brass Band proves on their debut disc, Happy Hour, that you don't have to hail from the Crescent City to put out music with that signature second-line sound. From beginning to end, Happy Hour kicks out spicy party music guaranteed to get new ears asking, "What's that in the player?"
Composed of two trombones, two trumpets, two saxes, one trombone, a fat sousaphone, a snare drum, and a bass drum, Jack Brass Band succeeds in mixing together enough blues, funk, and jazz into their songs that the album never seems, well, too brassy. Happy Hour makes you think more Bourbon Street than band camp. "Getaway," the album's opener, begins with a sleek baseline that the drums begin to play around. Then, the rest of horns break in over the top, while the rhythm section holds off before everything comes in together again; the combined sound isn't exactly disorganized, but definitely greasy. "I'll Fly Away" adds a touch of Dixieland to the proceedings, and "Carribean Second Line" sounds like it could really have come from there.
Throughout the album, individual band members step out for tasty solos, but what anchors the entire record is the sousaphone and two drums. The sousaphone, low and loud like a tuba, cements each song in a solid groove. As for the drums, who knows how two guys from Minnesota could have absorbed the drum-around-the-beat and on-the-beat at the same time New Orleans style, but they sure funk it up. They're so good that it's too bad Happy Hour includes the straight ahead "Friends & Strangers," but then again, the "Hey Jude" at the song's end is a nice tip of the hat.
The biggest compliment one could give to the Jack Brass Band is that it can stand proudly alongside homegrown New Orleans counterparts like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Rebirth Brass Band. Do yourself a favor and add some gumbo to your meat and potatoes blues collection.
www.jackbrassband.com
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