Dom and the Ikos @ Hoochie Coochie - Oct. 30

Dom Pipkin (pno/vcl); Tony Ricco (ten); Jay Darwish (bs gtr); Pat Davey (dms).
(Review by Lance).

Warren does it again and, even though he takes a few hits, he brings to his venue the music he loves.

An unsubsidised guy who, like many other local promoters, puts his money where his mouth is.

Dom and the Ikos were superb. An example of how foolish genre guide lines are! This was jazz, it was rock 'n' roll, rhythm 'n' blues, it was a compilation of the lot - the works! And this band works!

Think Bill Haley, Louis Jordan, New Orleans. Not the N'awlins of King Oliver but the Big Easy of today. I wished that Steve Horowitz had been present to compare Dom and the Ikos with the bands he'd heard on his recent Louisiana Hayride. I reckon these guys would have held their own.

Dom plays the kind of piano Jools can only dream about whilst Ricco is a booting, rocking, swinging, grooving, tenor man for all seasons. I think bass guitar and drums may have been tour deps, if so, they've done their homework well.

They kicked off with Iko, Iko (natch) then Let the Good Times Roll and roll they did! After Professor Longhair's In the Dark and an original, Dom played a piano solo - a touch of Chopin and some JSB Bookerended Pixie. Stride, ragtime, barrelhouse, all rock and rolled into one.

I stopped taking notes round about this point - why write it down? I wasn't going to forget this night! The couples were now dancing - shaking, gyrating and, like the guys on stage, having a ball.

Happy Birthday requests can often dull the proceedings. but not when Dom delivers them.

One extended set sans intermission enabled me to catch the number 27 Greyhound which was good as I turn into a pumpkin after midnight and this is a bad time of year to be a pumpkin.

Photos.
Lance.