Smoking Time Jazz Club • 6 Blueses, 5 Joys and a Stomp!

Our man Joe Bebco has reviewed several previous works by New Orleans outfit Smoking Time Jazz Club, a longstanding live fixture in the city and a prolific recording outfit to boot. Covering Mean Tones and High Notes, he described them as “one of the big three in New Orleans, along with Tuba Skinny and the Shotgun Jazz Band.” Joe suggested that I take a listen to their latest release, to offer a fresh take on the group by someone who isn’t so familiar with them. Well I hate to disappoint, but I don’t think my verdict—passed on thirteenth full-length, 6 Blueses, 5 Joys and a Stomp!—is going to be any less complimentary than Joe’s prior appraisals. Perhaps the record benefits from my present circumstances: I was hoping to finally visit the Big Easy in 2023 but, having just bought a very old house, I’m not sure my stretched budget will reach across the pond this year. So the chance to hear a new record which captures the energy and variety of the NOLA scene, transporting me there in spirit if not in body, was very welcome. 6 Blueses, 5 Joys and a Stomp! delivers precisely what it claims to: twelve tracks (plus one reprise) of foot-tapping jazz and blues which plunder the city’s rich musical heritage for both its crown jewels and more hidden treasures. Of the former, we get classics like Clara Smith’s “It’s Tight Like That,” Kid Rena’s “High Society,” and