Slammers Maximum Jive Band [Live] - Hey There You (review)
Slammers Maximum Jive Band [Live] - Hey There You (Self-Released; CD002)
reviewed by Michael Macomber
Some bands are great in the studio. Some shine onstage. The Slammers Maximum Jive Band rocks both. After releasing a truly brilliant studio album earlier this year (the appropriately titled Jive Time), The Slammers return with Hey There You, an absolutely killer live recording.
Each of the members of this amazing jazz-swing-jump-jive-boogie-rhythm-blues octet has the requisite talent to lead their own ensemble. To find all of them together in one combo is awe inspiring.
Vocalist and baritone saxman James Gray once again displays his laid back, almost Dean Martinesque cool, hitting the right note on one classic after another. No doubt Louis Jordan and Cab Calloway would find a soul mate in Mr. Gray. Boogie woogie piano demon Claire Hamlin is so hot and on it that she nearly outdoes her own work on the aforementioned Jive Time. On “What’d I Say,” she channels Sweet Baby Ray, and on “Swanee River Boogie,” she nearly shakes the joint to pieces.
Guitarist Smokin’ Bob Ray lives up to his name, burnin’ up the blues on “Linda Lu” and pickin’ out some sizzlin’ jazz on “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens.” Double bassist Neal Hobday is the badass driving force behind “Boogie Woogie Country Girl,” ably assisted by one of the best drummers in the business, rhythm master Gary Richardson.
Of course, a band like this is nothing without kickin’ horns, and tenor saxophonist Andy Burns, trombonist Mike Doris, and trumpet player Sharon Williamson kick like an angry mule. For proof check out “Short’nin’ Bread,” “Such A Night,” “Straighten Up And Fly Right,” and the uncanny train sounds of “Choo Choo Ch’ Boogie.”
Although it may sound cliché, a fact is a fact: It don’t get no better than The Slammers. Ultra cool, white hot, and fun as all get out, this is the band to make your holidays sparkle.