JJ & The A-OKs

Bassist John Joyce, whose earlier experiences were in the worlds of punk rock and rockabilly, has gained fame in the traditional jazz world with the Smoking Time Jazz Club and the Secret Six. His latest venture is JJ & The A-OKs, a similar New Orleans sextet. The group is comprised of the leader on bass and vocals, trumpeter Hippolyte Fevre, trombonist Stephan Tenney, drummer Brett Gallo, and two members of the Secret Six: clarinetist Craig Flory and Hunter Burgamy on guitar and banjo.

The band’s repertoire, with the exception of “I Took My Little Daughter To the Zoo” (which has Joyce telling a charming story) and the Cab Calloway-associated “A Chicken Ain’t Nothing But A Bird,” is mostly very much in the trad jazz tradition. Joyce takes a few personable if not overly memorable vocals and Fevre, Tenney, and Burgamy sing one song apiece. To quote Eddie Condon, they don’t hurt anyone.

But the main reasons to acquire the group’s self-titled debut are for the spirited ensembles and the consistently excellent solos. Trumpeter Fevre contributes a solid lead and colorful spots, clarinetist Flory displays versatility, and Burgamy plays some swinging chordal guitar solos while trombonist Tenney often takes honors with his creative and frequently unpredictable statements. Joyce contributes two-beat walking bass and drummer Gallo swings in support of the lead voices and has a few breaks along the way.

Among the highlights are “Messin’ Around,” “Down Among The Sheltering Palms,” a hot version of “A Shanty In Old Shanty Town,” and the uptempo “Tiger Rag.” Fans of John Joyce’s other groups and freewheeling New Orleans jazz in general will want to acquire this disc.

JJ & The A-OKs
Self-Released
www.louisianamusicfactory.com

Scott Yanow

Since 1975 Scott Yanow has been a regular reviewer of albums in many jazz styles. He has written for many jazz and arts magazines, including JazzTimes, Jazziz, Down Beat, Cadence, CODA, and the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, and was the jazz editor for Record Review. He has written an in-depth biography on Dizzy Gillespie for AllMusic.com. He has authored 11 books on jazz, over 900 liner notes for CDs and over 20,000 reviews of jazz recordings.

Yanow was a contributor to and co-editor of the third edition of the All Music Guide to Jazz. He continues to write for Downbeat, Jazziz, the Los Angeles Jazz Scene, the Jazz Rag, the New York City Jazz Record and other publications.