Tuba Skinny (2012) -Rag Band

Artist:  Tuba Skinny

Albums: Rag Band

Release date:  2012

Quality: mp3 CBR 320 

Size:  138  MB

“ It is apt that Tuba Skinny’s new release has the word “Rag” in it. The music here goes back beyond Dixieland to the early days of jazz when it was better known as “ragtime,” and those who played it called it “ragging” (or syncopating) the beat or song. It also indicated an informal, down-home take on the music. The seven member-strong Tuba Skinny collective definitely has that going for them. This is shake your booty with a cold-one in your hand music. Their take on rarely recorded songs such as the sly come-on “Papa’s Got Your Bath Water On” or Skip James’ cold-blooded murder ballad “Crow Jane” are poignant, yet fun. Occasionally, the beat wanders or not everyone is in tune, but the general energy and joy of the music makes the listener forget such anomalies. And kudos to Tuba Skinny for getting some of the great yet lesser-played songs of the New Orleans repertoire (particularly the Jelly Roll Morton tunes including “New Orleans Bump”) back into action.

Nobody needs to hear another version of “Muskrat Ramble” these days. The only problem with this recording is that sometimes it takes the informal too far. I like my music raw, but the audio quality of this disc sounds at times more like a field recording and less like a studio one. The music can always be heard, but sometimes the vocals are a little difficult to make out, and instruments that should be more prominent fall into the background. Again, that doesn’t take away from the overall feel of Rag Band. Put it on for your next party and see how low everybody can do the “New Orleans Bump.”

  ~ by David Kunian

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Dirty Dozen Brass Band (2012) -Twenty Dozen

Artist:  Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Album: Twenty Dozen

Released:  2012

Quality: mp3 CBR 320

Size:  121 MB

” In their prime, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band successfully mixed together R&B with the instrumentation of a New Orleans brass band. Featuring Kirk Joseph on sousaphone playing with the agility of an electric bassist, the group revitalized the brass band tradition, opening up the repertoire and inspiring some younger groups to imitate its boldness. Generally featuring five horns (two trumpets, one trombone, and two saxes) along with the sousaphone, a snare drummer, and a bass drummer, the DDBB were innovative in their own way, making fine recordings for Rounder, Columbia, and the George Wein Collection (the latter released through Concord). Guest artists have included Dr. John, Dizzy Gillespie, and Danny Barker. the DDBB re-emerged in 1999 with John Medeski as their producer, and many called the group's Buck Jump release a return to classic form. The group then returned in 2002 with yet another surprising album, Medicated Magic. Two years later, the band made its Artemis label debut with Funeral for a Friend. In 2006, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the DDBB issued their most ambitious album to date, What's Going On, a wide-ranging musical tour de force that was a track-for-track remake of Marvin Gaye's classic 1971 album. In addition to the DDBB, it also featured the talents of many musicians from the Crescent City. The album was not so much a response to Hurricane Katrina itself, but to the subsequent treatment of New Orleanians by the city government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In 2011, the group issued My Feet Can't Fail Me Now, a further extrapolation on Crescent City traditions wedded to hip-hop, modern R&B, funk, and rock. In the spring of 2012, DDBB issued the more traditional Twenty Dozen, their debut offering for Savoy Jazz.”    ~ Scott Yanow, allmusic.com

 

Tuba Skinny - 3 albums

Artist: Tuba Skinny
Albums: Tubaskinny / Six Feet Down / Garbage Man
Released: 2009 / 2010 / 2011
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 148 / 129 / 122 MB

”Tuba Skinny is a band that takes it's listeners back in time to the traditional dixieland jazz and old blues music of the nineteen twenties and thirties. The members have been playing together since meeting on the streets of New Orleans six years ago, & officially began Tuba Skinny during the spring of 2009.” ©

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The Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble (1982) -Alive and Well

Artist: The Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble
Album: Alive And Well
Released: 1982
Quality: mp3 CBR 320
Size: 209 MB

"What distinguishes the Louisiana Repertory Jazz Ensemble from the hundreds of groups around the globe playing what is variously labeled Trad, New Orleans or Dixieland jazz is its absolute authenticity. And it has come as a revelation to all who thought they knew what the genuine article was. One thing it is not, for instance, is the all-pervasive, brash and brassy music which emanates from the bars and strip clubs of Bourbon Street. Despite a burgeoning international reputation, with appearances as far a field as Moscow and Hong Kong, and radio, TV and record performances, New Orleans is still the wellspring of the band's inspiration - both musically and environmentally. "We regard ourselves both as resuscitators of this musical tradition and a living part of it," explained Starr. The interaction between the musicians and the people they play for - many of whom actually danced to the bands whose repertoires the LRJE is reviving - is as important in creating the group's genuineness as the long hours spent delving into the archives for buried tunes." ~ Quavers