In the old days, when one could see the liner notes on the back of the “record,” or the “lp,” those paragraphs served a commercial purpose: to make the undecided purchaser head to the cash register at a trot, clutching the record. Today, the purchaser might read the notes after buying the CD (or perhaps not at all): so I write to share my enthusiasm. And there’s a lot to be enthusiastic about the Riverside Jazz Collective.
Musicians I know speak of “playing tunes,” as in “Oh, we played some tunes,” which suggests that on those occasions there is little written music but much collective joy that comes out of well-earned knowledge of the music. The RJC knows the original records and they may have “roadmaps” as in “Second chorus is stop-time for cornet and piano only,” but they aren’t trying to create imitations of the classics in the best sound. And they have the comfortable ease and friendliness – to us, to each other – of A Working Band, something delicious and rare.
The RJC is interested in “old” songs that are melodically and emotionally durable – from joyous stomps to love songs to one Chicago lament that says, “You know what? I’m going to kill myself,” even if the lyrics are too witty for that to be a real threat. Their repertoire is often “New Orleans jazz,” however you might define it, as it surfaced in other cities, notably Chicago. And one can point to a good number of Ancestors here, from Tony Jackson to Louis Armstrong to Oliver, Morton, Keppard, Bunk, and Ory.
This band also enacts a neat balance between collective improvisation and solos, but they bring a little twenty-first century energy, elegance, and intelligence to their hot reverence. Enthusiasm is the driving force here, not cautious antiquarianism. This band has also heard jazz created after 1927, and that awareness gives these performances a happy elasticity, an optimistic bounce. Hear HERE COMES THE TAMALE MAN for a brilliant example of sonic joy-spreading. I could explain more, but it would cost extra.
It feels good, and it feels real. You know there are mountains of what I’d call “tofu music” being marketed as genuine, but your ears, your feet, and your heart tell you when the jazz has been manufactured in a lab by chemists. I greet the Riverside Jazz Collective at the start of what I hope is their brilliant career. My words are written in a time of ice and snow, but the music warms and embraces. And now IT BELONGS TO YOU.
Michael Steinman
JAZZ LIVES
www.jazzlives.wordpress.com
1. Stomp Off, Let's Go 03:44
2. It Belongs To You 03:36
3. Just Gone 03:00
4. Here Comes The Hot Tamale Man 03:50
5. Wabash Blues 04:56
6. Ready For The River 02:25
7. Riverside Blues 03:14
8. Don't Leave Me In The Ice And Snow 04:06
9. Swipesy Cakewalk 03:31
10. Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me 02:43
11. One Sweet Letter From You 04:11
12. See See Rider 03:11
13. Melancholy Blues 02:57
14. Society Blues 02:39
15. Whenever You're Lonesome (Just Telephone Me) 05:00
Benny Amon - Drums
Alex Belhaj - Guitar & Vocal (6, 10)
Kris Tokarski - Piano
Tyler Thomson - String Bass (1, 3, 4, 6-9, 12, 13)
Ben Polcer - Trumpet (1, 3, 4, 6-9, 12, 13) & Vocal (12)
Andy Reid - String Bass (2, 5, 10, 11, 14, 15)
Alex Owen - Cornet (2, 5, 10, 11, 14, 15) & Vocal (2)
Charlie Halloran - Trombone
Chloe Feoranzo - Clarinet & Vocal (15)
This album was recorded at the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music and funded by a generous donation from the Perkin Fund.
Produced by Benny Amon, Alex Belhaj and Kris Tokarski
Recording and Mixing Engineer: Daryl Dickerson (Ellis Marsalis Center For Music)
Mastering: David Farrell
Graphic Design and Layout: Nathan duToit
