Tuba Skinny
Live @ D.B.A.
**** out of *****
Traditional jazz is not the craze it was one hundred years ago, but in New Orleans time moves slow. It is the one city in this country that truly holds onto that style and has a host of bands doing it, but none currently cut to the trad-jazz core like Tuba Skinny. Their newest live album, Live @ D.B.A is a testament to their talent and the vibrancy of this quintessential American art form.
Recorded live in their hometown at D.B.A. on Frenchmen street over French Quarter Fest and JazzFest weekends of 2024, the tone and sound is crisp and alive. The players, Clarinet: Craig Flory, Cornet: Shaye Cohn, Trombone: Barnabus Jones, Tenor banjo: Max Bien-Kahn, Guitar and Vocals: Greg Sherman, Tuba: Todd Burdick, Washboard: Robin Rapuzzi, mix originals and covers with ease and charm.
The record starts via the old timey traditional "Storyville Blues" with the trombone, clarinet, tuba, and coronet all speaking to each other with breezy ease. The band focuses more on the percussion and guitar during their follow-up original "It Gets Easier" while "Two Drops of Water" uses bright sunshine laced brass and bubbling rhythms to complement one of the few tracks with vocals, resulting in an album standout.
Another standout on a really solid album is the confident "Sugarfoot Strut" which highlights the percussion work of Rapuzzi while strolling with ease. "Messin' Around" cooks with high paced banjo and horns, "Harlem Joys" features dueling coronet and trombone, while vocals return with banjos and guitars on the classic Irvin Berlin number "Walking Stick".
The band stays hot to end the album with a killer, high energy run through of "Sam" that has swirling brass, breakdowns, and top notch clarinet work from Flory. The slower ballad "Them Things Got Me" eases it back down before "Deber de los Dos" adds a Spanish vocal flair to wrap up the excellent live album.
An album that wouldn't have sounded too out of place a century ago, these modern players give it there all, keeping the Traditional Jazz roots alive as Tuba Skinny shake and shimmy on the spirited Live @ D.B.A.
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Support the artists, buy the album and peep some video below:
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