Back in day when the threat of Covid hung over our heads like the legendary Sword of Damocles one of the few comforting places of refuge from the ravages of the pandemic were the livestreams presented by clarinet ace Adrian Cox as Adrian Cox's Sunday Service.
Those sessions, which were surely a better antidote to the disease than any prescribed medicine, displayed a master clarinetist totally in tune with the past masters of New Orleans' jazz that he paid tribute to every Sunday.
On Club Croco, Cox's rich, woody tone (Simple/Albert System?) with the occasional throaty growl brings many of those past masters to life: Dodds, Simeon, Fazola, Bigard, Russell, Hall etc. Cox Recreates without cloning, he's his own man injecting his unique individuality into the material successfully blending the past with the present.
Now, then and before then with Kansas Smitty's House Band, the man in the flat cap never fails to deliver whether it be with the licker stick or the vox humana and he certainly delivers on this release (July 25).
Of course there's more than one side to a triangle and with Boulton and Gilson this international* triangle is very much of the equilateral variety. Apart from his solos, Boulton is also outstanding when he and Cox have some contrapuntal passages. Gilson too is never more than a demi-semi-quaver away from the action holding it all together. The tunes are great and what Cox & Co do with them does no harm whatsoever!
A delightful piece of musical art and, talking of art, full marks to Con McHugh for his cover design. Lance
*Cox is currently living in Sweden, Boulton's from New Zealand and Gilson is Paris based.
New Orleans Stomp; The Pearls; Why (v); Tears; Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None of my Jelly Roll (v); Courthouse Bump; Bluer Than Blue (v); Mamanita; Two Deuces
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