New Orleans has always been fertile ground for music but its influence on American and world culture became apparent only in the 1910. By this time, the first recordings of a new music called jazz began to circulate. By the ‘20s, jazz achieved the status rock would hold in the ‘60s and hip-hop has today. The New Orleans-based Sabertooth Swing delves into the old-time jazz of their city without sounding exactly old time. The arrangement of familiar standards such as the murder ballad “Frankie & Johnny” is joyously contemporary and their take on Irving Berlin’s eternal “Blue Skies” preserves the underlying melancholy in a fresh setting. And the presence of Tom Waits’ “Chocolate Jesus” and Phish’s “Lawn Boy” take the set out of Dixieland. Vocalist-trumpeter Dan Ruch keeps it rooted in sync with now.
