Andrew Oliver (piano); David Horniblow (clarinet); Dave Kelbie (guitar); Louis Thomas (bass).
The name that sprung to my mind after the opening bars was Good Time Jazz. The label based on the West Coast that operated from 1949 - 1969 and featured Dixie bands such as The Firehouse Five + Two, Turk Murphy, Bob Scobey and other American revivalists. Bands who, if nothing else, made a fair fist of recapturing the feel of New Orleans better the European bands who were, despite the inconvenience of the Atlantic Ocean, working the same side of the street.
And so they should, Frisco and L.A are closer to New Orleans than say, London, Bristol or even Newcastle.
That was then. This is now and, whilst America may still hold the crown at the very highest level, there are plenty snapping at their heels and, in the more historic idioms such as this fine album, the contenders are way past the heels and heading for the jugular!
Good Time Jazz indeed and, just as the aforementioned revivalists took their inspiration from Louis Armstrong, King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton so do The Dime Notes with Jelly Roll being their prime influence. Not surprising as Oliver has assimilated Jelly Roll in everything but the braggadocio and the gold teeth. In Horniblow he has a running mate with the feel of Jimmy Noone and the technique of Barney Bigard - in traditional circles that is a lethal combination. With Kelbie and Thomas rounding off the quartet the result is both tight and yet loose at the same time.
If that seems to be a contradiction in terms so be it. The Dime Notes are tight like that when they want it to be like that and yet there's a sense of freedom in that they know that whatever happens they have a safety net in each other.
You don't have to be a purist to enjoy this foot-tapping album. As Oliver points out in his notes, Morton's Fickle Fay Creep foreshadowed the extended one chord vamp innovation of Miles and Gil in the 1950s.
Other Morton tunes on the album are Grandpa's Spells, Pep and Why? (The sleeve omits the question mark although Cusack's JRM discography includes it). The Chant was composed by Mel Stitzel but will forever be remembered by the version recorded by the Red Hot Peppers in 1926 - chances are this version will too achieve immortality.
El Rado Scuffle (Jimmy Noone); Daylight Savin' Blues (Perry Bradford); The Dream (Jesse Pickett); Worried & Lonesome Blues (James P. Johnson); Jubilee Stomp (Ellington); San (McPhail & Michels) and Ten Cent Rhythm (an Andrew Oliver original) complete a most enjoyable album.
Lance
PS: Special mention for Kelbie's solo on Grandpa's Spells and Loui Thomas' bass playing throughout.
If that seems to be a contradiction in terms so be it. The Dime Notes are tight like that when they want it to be like that and yet there's a sense of freedom in that they know that whatever happens they have a safety net in each other.
You don't have to be a purist to enjoy this foot-tapping album. As Oliver points out in his notes, Morton's Fickle Fay Creep foreshadowed the extended one chord vamp innovation of Miles and Gil in the 1950s.
Other Morton tunes on the album are Grandpa's Spells, Pep and Why? (The sleeve omits the question mark although Cusack's JRM discography includes it). The Chant was composed by Mel Stitzel but will forever be remembered by the version recorded by the Red Hot Peppers in 1926 - chances are this version will too achieve immortality.
El Rado Scuffle (Jimmy Noone); Daylight Savin' Blues (Perry Bradford); The Dream (Jesse Pickett); Worried & Lonesome Blues (James P. Johnson); Jubilee Stomp (Ellington); San (McPhail & Michels) and Ten Cent Rhythm (an Andrew Oliver original) complete a most enjoyable album.
Lance
PS: Special mention for Kelbie's solo on Grandpa's Spells and Loui Thomas' bass playing throughout.
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