Big Bill Bissonnette, a trombonist greatly influenced by Jim Robinson and a crusader for New Orleans revival jazz during the 1960's, had been out of music for a decade when he put together a new version of his Easy Riders Jazz Band in the mid-1980's. He has since returned to playing fulltime and his Jazz Crusade label has been quite successful at documenting his favorite type of mouldy jazz. Bissonnette would never claim to be a virtuoso (he sounds quite rough on "What Am I Living For?") but he has a lot of feeling in his ...
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Big Bill Bissonnette, a trombonist greatly influenced by Jim Robinson and a crusader for New Orleans revival jazz during the 1960's, had been out of music for a decade when he put together a new version of his Easy Riders Jazz Band in the mid-1980's. He has since returned to playing fulltime and his Jazz Crusade label has been quite successful at documenting his favorite type of mouldy jazz. Bissonnette would never claim to be a virtuoso (he sounds quite rough on "What Am I Living For?") but he has a lot of feeling in his playing and his sense of rhythm is strong. His partner in the frontline of this quintet is a real powerhouse, Paul Boehmke. Some of the tempoes on this set are killers but Boehmke (whether on his 1920's style clarinet or romping tenor) has no trouble playing heated doubletime lines. With either Bill Sinclair or Bob Shallue on piano, bassist Jim Tutunjian (who takes several enjoyable slap bass solos) and drummer Bob Lasprogato, this is a fun date and one never misses the trumpet. Oh there are mistakes, occasional missteps and out-of-tune sections (the spontaneous music is comprised entirely of first takes) and some of the musician vocals are unnecessary, but the drive of the band, especially on the uptempo tunes such as a blistering "Bugle Call Rag," "Girl Of My Dreams" and "Chicago Rhythm" (to name three), is quite memorable. Recommended to New Orleans revival collectors. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi
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