While the dudes and dudettes from Dustbowl Revival injected a fair amount of rock and roll edginess into their latest live set (reviewed here), The Bumper Jacksons sing their Satchmo pretty close to the vest. From their Texas Swing of their java jivin’ ode to cafe noir called “Coffee Mama” to their funereal New Orleans send off “Hell Is Hot!,” this sextet from DC stay pretty true to the blues of Beale Street, the street parades of New Orleans and the swing of San Antone.
The best songs on the record are the infectious three-chord stomp of “Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down” (with a surprisingly smoking guitar solo by Chris Ousley), the swoon over the moon toe-tapper “Pretty Mama Put A Spell On Me” and the Stephen Foster song of the South on the beautiful “Jubilee.” Other highlights include the groovy “Watch It Skinny Woman” (one of the album’s best, with Ousley providing still another smashing guitar solo) and the knee-slappin’ two-step of “I’ve Got My Whiskey.”
Our recommendation: buy this one up, pick out your favorites (and don’t forget “Watch It Skinny Woman”), shuffle them together in a deck full of Louis Armstrong, B.B. King and Bob Willis and put on your dancin’ shoes.
