Azure Records AZ-CD-18
32 Kenton Lane, Kenton, Harrow, Middlesex UK HA3 8TB
Distributed by Messrs Monola, Rinteliner Str 1, 31675 Buckeburg, Germany

TRACKS
Yellow Dog Blues * The Naked Dance * Mamie’s Blues * The Original Jelly Roll Blues * Me and My Gin * King Porter Stomp * Down In The Dumps * Ory’s Creole Trombone * I’ve Gotta Right To Sing The Blues * Avalon * Do You Ever Think Of Me? * Cooking Breakfast For The One I Love * Mobile Blues * My Baby Just Cares For Me * I Wonder Who’s Kissing Her Now * Maple Leaf Rag.

Cornetist, leader Steve Lane, arranges all but four of the sixteen songs. Recorded at Red Gables Studio on the 16th of December 2000 in London, Pam Heagren a long-standing vocalist with the Hot Peppers, sings on seven of the titles.

There is a generous playing time of over 73 minutes on the CD, with, apart from a blemish or two, it has good sound quality with a catching, King Porter Stomp toe-tapping, yet swing movement running throughout it. The ensemble has an artistic, musical feel for each one and all, capturing well the piano ragtime ambience of "Barrelhouse". The interlocutory harmonies in Mamie’s Blues are truly outstanding, showing a unique example of how the vocals here are representing an appreciative, extenuation of the jazz band’s full instrumentation.

Barrelhouse jazz, I’d say, being a blend of New Orleans Music, ragtime and piano blues, and apart from Kazoo and Washboard, not included in this group, and in any case had they been so, would have led to too much informality, I find, that you’ll find in Maple Leaf Rag, one inclusive of the total tunes, all the nuances of Barrelhouse

Steve sings on Jelly Roll Blues. Notable is tuba on Me and My Gin and Mobile Blues upon which musical mobility occurs. The six minutes of Yellow Dog Blues are full of drama. The reeds add exceptional tone quality to the group, likewise for the brass; and do listen tentatively to Ory’s Creole Trombone at its articulation to the roots of the number.

There is a wealth of experience gone into the making of this audio compact disc.

In effect, it’s a bibliographic achievement of what the musical composer set out to do within the album’s scope and time-span.

Ian King
Kings Jazz Review
Monday the 11th of February 2002