Smoking Time Jazz Club Contrapuntal Stomp

As I noted in my review of their last album, Take Your Time And Fly, The Smoking Time Jazz Club are a hardworking New Orleans band that has retained a tight lineup in a town where most musicians are freelancers and many bands are simply called up to order under the leader's name.Their loyalty to each other pays off in their long-running weekly gigs at The Maison and The Spotted Cat. And the easy familiarity from all that gigging has dividends in the nine albums they have released in as many years. They took the time to get everything right on their latest release, Contrapuntal Stomp. The album kicks off with some crowd-pleasingly jumpy numbers but I prefer the band when they get into a more nuanced and bluesy mode. If "Si Tu Vois Ma Mere" is more my speed than "Snake Hip Dance" it may be that I'm mellowing out as the big 4-0 looms, your mileage will vary.  Band leader Sarah Peterson was already a fantastic jazz singer but she has developed even further in recent years. She pays tribute to the inflections of 20s jazz originators while bringing something uniquely her own. "Everything I've Got Belongs to You" and "My Baby",  are album highlights in her style. The band makes excellent work out of the Dorsey Brothers' "Chasing Shadows" with another fine Peterson vocal.Contrapuntal Stomp by Smoking Time Jazz Club "Trombone Slide", and its reprise at the end of the album highlight