The Jumbo Shrimp Jazz Band is a popular New Orleans group cutting their own path through the Crescent City since 2009. While rooted in traditional jazz they leave it to others to be wedded to it and instead focus on the fun side of their city’s diverse musical life. In this case incorporating Afro-Caribbean and Latin American rhythms, western swing, klezmer, and even a bit of rock ’n’ roll, while never strating far from a New Orleans jazz feeling or instrumentation. New Orleans has been called the northernmost city in the Caribbean. It also has a way of absorbing music from the rest of the USA.
The album kicks off with “Kedougou,” an original from leader Colin Myers, named for a city in Senegal where he spent several months as a student. It quickly swings in a new direction with “Take My Heart To Texas” a western swing song that is also a Myers original. “The Splash” follows with bop elements from guest saxophonist Ricardo Pascal, but have no fear they are the big open fun kind, and the band seems to enjoy the unusual territory. Pascal, for his part, references Louis Armstrong. “Chorando na Primavera” is next, a band original in the choro style, an early Brazilian form often compared to ragtime in America.
The first cover on the album “Malambo #1” is from Peruvian singer Yma Sumac. The band learned it for rooftop concerts they played during the pandemic off
