The Jazz O'Maniacs - Sunset Cafe Stomp

Delmark 244

Their moniker may convey a fair bit of corn, but it’s hard to lob husks the Jazz O’Maniacs contagious concoction of Dixie revivalist jazz. German in origin, these guys blow the pants and suspenders off most of their contemporaneous American counterparts, shelving starch-collar orthodoxy in favor of raucous street band frivolity. The occasion is Phil Pospychala’s 16th annual Tribute to Bix Beiderbecke, a bus tour with an itinerary encompassing sites illustrative of historic Chicago jazz. The bulk of the program comes from a gig at Bixfest in Racine, Wisconsin, a burg better known for beer and cheese-curd fueled polkas than julep-soaked riverboat stomps. No matter, as the Maniacs are single-minded in their mission to cajole even the most provincial-minded Midwestern masses into the thrall of indigenous Southern sounds. Their usual songbook is that of Satchmo, but the switch to Bix goes without a hitch. Hot barbecue blues are the favored flavor of the evening, but they also dip into an old world gumbo with the Dixie meets oompah “Sweet Mumtaz.”

What’s most striking initially is the instrumentation, specifically the omission of string bass and trap kit. In their absence exists a three-pronged rhythm dynamo comprised of Owe Hansen on banjo, Dietrich Kleine-Horst on tuba and Gunter Andernach on washboard. Inspired doesn’t seem a strong enough superlative to describe the degree of brio that these three bring to the stage. A trained conguero, Andernach particularly impressive, exuding Zydeco worthy flair with his nimble tap-dancing patterns that suggests Cleveland Chenier if he had been tutored by Cie Frazier. His percussive scrapes mimic the slap and bluster of the omitted bull fiddle and add colorful Pachinko accents. The populous frontline plies familiar polyphonic passels of rhythm and melody, plunger mutes and wailing reed trills regular cogs in the hard strutting machine. Cornetist and kingpin Roland Pilz also adds gravelly vocals, channeling a froggy Pops croak on tunes like “Gully Low Blues” and “Put ‘Em Down Blues”. The disc caps with a single selection from a concert at Meyers Ace Hardware in Chicago, a structure steeped in a spectrum of jazz history that runs from Armstrong to Hines to Sun Ra and the one time home of the venue named in the album’s title. The Maniacs pay tribute to that storied lineage through a celebratory rendering of “Willie the Weeper”, augmenting their already rowdy ranks with the firepower of five additional horns.

With this consistently entertaining disc, a superannuated idiom receives a pep-replacing shot in the arm and producer Bob Koester once again asserts his supremacy when it comes to circulating the finest in trad jazz. There’s also a DVD version of the set that I have yet to screen, but visuals coupled to the audio can only mean heightened fun. I have half a mind to book them for my next house rent party.

~ Derek Taylor