A Black & Tan Ball

This may not be a concert recording, but it has all the spontaneity, intimacy and magic of a great gig: it’s very much a one-take, one-microphone affair, an up-close document of three musicians united in their love of blues, early jazz, New Orleans music, old-time and hokum. An unpretentious joyousness beams from every note. Phil Wiggins is an incredibly agile harmonica player best known for his blues duo with the late guitarist John Cephas. He bolsters the duo of Ben Hunter (fiddle and mandolin) and Joe Seamons (guitar and banjo); all take turns on vocals.

The opener, ‘Do You Call That a Buddy?’ is a bluesy jazz song made famous by Louis Armstrong, with Ben Hunter riffing, tongue firmly in cheek, on the lyrics as he alternately threatens to ‘defenestrate’ and even ‘decapitate’ his back-stabbing pal in the song. We’re used to hearing ‘Do Nothin’ Til You Hear From Me’ as polished dinner-jazz, but Phil Wiggins gives it a delightfully rough-and-ready treatment. Convivial, relaxed roots music like this seems suddenly hyper-relevant and even partisan, such are the times we live in. Especially when it is played by a multi-racial trio at a venue that celebrates historical black-and-tan clubs, which ‘offered a haven for people of all races in an era when segregation dictated social boundaries,’ as the venue’s website informs us. A Black & Tan Ball is righteous stuff.