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The Best of The Hot Club of Cowtown

By Herb Folsom

Found in: | Inside | Music |

The Best of The Hot Club of Cowtown (HCC) presents 20 tracks selected from the group's first five albums. Combine Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli's Hot Club de France jazz with Bob Wills' western swing and you have a recipe for success. Superb musicianship, vocals, and raw-spirited enthusiasm make this trio stand out as ambassadors of this mix of music. Should Webster's approve of my new English language word for this style, let it be called "swazz."
The album contains three live recordings: "Ida Red," "Deed I Do," and bluegrass classic "Orange Blossom Special," all off HCC's 2003-produced Continental Stomp. The live cuts give the listener an idea of the energy put forth on stage. In 2008, HCC filled the dance floor at a performance at the Henry Strater Theatre in Durango, Colo. The viewing audience kept toes tapping. This group has an international following, as well as its dedicated fans in the U.S. HCC has recently returned from 22 gigs throughout England and Ireland.
The band, formed in the mid-1990s, features Elana James on vivacious fiddle solos and vocals. Her influences include Stuff Smith, Joe Venuti, and Johnny Gimble. Whit Smith plays inventive, improvisatory guitar, complementing stand up bassist Jake Irwin's virtuosity. Whit's influences include Reinhardt and George Barnes, whose tune "Way Down Yonder in the Cornfield" is one of three instrumental numbers. The other two are "Tchavolo Swing" and Hoagy Carmichael's classic "Star Dust." The first is played at warp speed, the latter at a more relaxed tempo, both reflecting the pleasing dynamics throughout the recording. Close your eyes and let the music take you back to the 1930s.
The next track, "Secret of Mine," makes you feel like you're in some juke joint in Kansas City 80 years ago. It is one of three penned by James. She utilizes a 32-bar form with the rhythm of hot-jazz standard "Shine," using words with the same number of syllables as that tune. In addition, Smith plays a 1925 Gibson L5 guitar through a 1940 DeArmond pickup. His 1938 tube amplifier creates an old-fashioned, nostalgic sound. Two others written by James are western swing numbers, "Forget-Me-Nots" and "I'd Understand Why," the latter infusing the smooth pedal steel guitar playing of Bobby Koeffer.
Smith writes four songs on the album. "It Stops With Me" has an at-the-Ritz groove with raspy vocals and a syncopated slap bass solo with Joe Kerr's accompanying piano. "Sleep" is a swing number driven by the piano, creating a ragtime flavor. Smith co-writes "When I Lost You" with Dave Stuckey. This song incorporates Peter Ecklund on coronet, transporting the listener to a New Orleans' street corner. The tasteful horn playing can also be heard on the classic "Always and Always," as well as on Smith's "Emily," which is slowly becoming a standard in its own right in swing music circles.
Unfussy and unpretentious, HCC even does justice to Aerosmith's "Chip Away the Stone." "Even a rock can crumble, if you smack it night and day," Smith sings, offering a weary prediction of a stormy romance. The classic fiddle tune, "Cherokee Shuffle," is a reminder that this is a dance band out for an old-fashioned good time.
Blending the jazz and western swing genres on HCC's "Best Of" CD keeps these styles in vogue. This is a contagious, fun mix of yesteryear, recommended for Django lovers and cowpokes alike.

Herb Folsom is a guitar-playing member of "Roscoe," a duo that swings the blues out of Mancos, Colo.