Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:11
Size: 112.6 MB
Styles: Jump blues, R&B
Year: 2010
Art: Front
[3:31] 1. Jumpin' On The Bandwagon
[3:43] 2. The Blues Is In My Blood
[3:33] 3. Sad Times. Co. Uk
[4:05] 4. We Don't Normally Work This Cheap
[3:51] 5. Junk Mail
[5:45] 6. The Day My World Collapsed
[3:46] 7. Fried Bananas
[5:34] 8. The Big Swinging Dick
[3:29] 9. The Simple Things In Life
[3:20] 10. Rough & Ready Blues
[1:58] 11. Tarmac Jack
[3:28] 12. Talk, Talk, Talk
[3:01] 13. Cleaning Up My Act
Humorous blues lyrics don’t come any better – cleverer or funnier – nowadays than those from Kit Packham’s pen, and there are two or three new examples here which are as good as anything I’ve heard from him before. “We Don’t Normally Work This Cheap” in particular is exceptionally witty, and actually had me laughing out loud the first time I heard it. “Cleaning Up My Act” too, is as amusing a piece of 1920s-style-jazz-vaudeville as you’ll hear this side of the Bonzos.
Anyone expecting this surfeit of good humour to equate with a lack of musical seriousness would be wildly mistaken, since Packham’s comedy sits upon a bedrock of real jump’n’jive know-how and instrumental earnestness – this is a band, after all, which even gives a “beats-per-minute” reading beside each track title. Personnel-wise, the band is not greatly changed from that which appeared on 1999’s From Top to Toe, with Billy Jenkins again displaying the subtler side of his guitar range and tastefully producing throughout. Also worthy of mention here are the keyboard skills of Perry White, Simon Da Silva’s trumpet work, and the fine rhythm backline of Chris Rodel (double bass) and Kenrick Rowe (drums). Sax duties are shared between Tracey Mendham and Kit himself.
The songs, all originals this time, display a wide range of influences, not just the blues, jazz and jive tunes Packham praises in his amusingly honest sleeve note, but also Caribbean and Latin American music. The band switch styles and tempos with ease, and although Kit is not the greatest singer on the block, he plays the “personality vocalist” card with some aplomb. All things considered it’s a very impressive set. ~Paul Lewis
Anyone expecting this surfeit of good humour to equate with a lack of musical seriousness would be wildly mistaken, since Packham’s comedy sits upon a bedrock of real jump’n’jive know-how and instrumental earnestness – this is a band, after all, which even gives a “beats-per-minute” reading beside each track title. Personnel-wise, the band is not greatly changed from that which appeared on 1999’s From Top to Toe, with Billy Jenkins again displaying the subtler side of his guitar range and tastefully producing throughout. Also worthy of mention here are the keyboard skills of Perry White, Simon Da Silva’s trumpet work, and the fine rhythm backline of Chris Rodel (double bass) and Kenrick Rowe (drums). Sax duties are shared between Tracey Mendham and Kit himself.
The songs, all originals this time, display a wide range of influences, not just the blues, jazz and jive tunes Packham praises in his amusingly honest sleeve note, but also Caribbean and Latin American music. The band switch styles and tempos with ease, and although Kit is not the greatest singer on the block, he plays the “personality vocalist” card with some aplomb. All things considered it’s a very impressive set. ~Paul Lewis
Jumpin' On The Bandwagon
Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:35
Size: 127.3 MB
Styles: Jump blues, R&B
Year: 2010
Art: Front
[1:54] 1. Rhythm With My Blues
[3:07] 2. I Love The Life I Live
[2:45] 3. Why Keep A Dog (& Bark Yourself)
[2:55] 4. It Ain't Broke
[4:04] 5. Saturday Night Fish Fry
[5:10] 6. I Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues
[2:41] 7. I'm Walking
[4:06] 8. Pink Champagne
[4:29] 9. Closer To The Bone
[3:37] 10. Couch Potato
[3:52] 11. Let The Good Times Roll
[3:59] 12. Flip Flop & Fly
[3:36] 13. Willie & The Hand Jive
[3:52] 14. Barefootin'
[5:20] 15. From Top To Toe
It’s been a good while since I last heard from these pioneers of the British jump’n’jive scene. Band members may have come and gone, but sax and vocals man Packham has kept the faith and once again confirms his position at the very top of the compositional tree as far as this particular sub-genre of the blues is concerned.
There are five originals here – among the titles you will have recognised from old recordings by Louis Jordan, Fats Domino, Joe Liggins et al – and they’re all hip, lyrically nimble and droll. ‘Why Keep A Dog’ Is an especially good slackers’ anthem, featuring some scintillating piano from Perry White and a wealth of original verbal conceits (“…the album I recorded, which won me such acclaim / My only contribution was to lend my name”). ‘It Ain’t Broke’ and ‘Couch Potato’ are also amusing and entertaining numbers which both expand upon and celebrate the r&b tradition.
Packham’s current crop of accompanists are well up to standard and there is an extensive list of add-ons (mostly horn players) to the basic unit of Packham, White, Billy Jenkins (guitar), Ken Austen (bass), Kenrick Rowe (drums) and Tracey Mendham (sax, flute, clarinet). The overall feel is one of both jazz integrity and jivey whimsy, and the session impresses more with each successive play, as lyrics become familiar and solos are examined more closely. A very good album in short, highly recommended to old style R&B enthusiasts. ~Paul Lewis
There are five originals here – among the titles you will have recognised from old recordings by Louis Jordan, Fats Domino, Joe Liggins et al – and they’re all hip, lyrically nimble and droll. ‘Why Keep A Dog’ Is an especially good slackers’ anthem, featuring some scintillating piano from Perry White and a wealth of original verbal conceits (“…the album I recorded, which won me such acclaim / My only contribution was to lend my name”). ‘It Ain’t Broke’ and ‘Couch Potato’ are also amusing and entertaining numbers which both expand upon and celebrate the r&b tradition.
Packham’s current crop of accompanists are well up to standard and there is an extensive list of add-ons (mostly horn players) to the basic unit of Packham, White, Billy Jenkins (guitar), Ken Austen (bass), Kenrick Rowe (drums) and Tracey Mendham (sax, flute, clarinet). The overall feel is one of both jazz integrity and jivey whimsy, and the session impresses more with each successive play, as lyrics become familiar and solos are examined more closely. A very good album in short, highly recommended to old style R&B enthusiasts. ~Paul Lewis
From Top To Toe