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 jivinâ ode to cafe noir called âCoffee Mamaâ to their funereal New Orleans send off âHell Is Hot!,â 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 âSatan, Your Kingdom Must Come Downâ (with a surprisingly smoking guitar solo by Chris Ousley), the swoon over the moon toe-tapper âPretty Mama Put A Spell On Meâ and the Stephen Foster song of the South on the beautiful âJubilee.â Other highlights include the groovy âWatch It Skinny Womanâ (one of the albumâs best, with Ousley providing still another smashing guitar solo) and the knee-slappinâ two-step of âIâve Got My Whiskey.â
Our recommendation: buy this one up, pick out your favorites (and donât forget âWatch It Skinny Womanâ), shuffle them together in a deck full of Louis Armstrong, B.B. King and Bob Willis and put on your dancinâ shoes.