East Atlanta Passover Stomp

How can anyone not be intrigued by an album that begins with a track titled ‘Greater Lagos Wednesday Night Talmud Meeting’? The opening selection on East Atlanta Passover Stomp, the stunningly original debut CD by the Fourth Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra, begins with a lilting, West African-style Fender Rhodes riff lifted straight from a 70s Fela Kuti jam. Enter the five-piece horn-and-reed section, brashly intoning highlife magic from a thousand Nigerian nights. Then, just when things are getting all ‘Greater Lagos’ groovy, the Afro-beat shifts abruptly into ‘Wednesday Night Talmud’ gear and the whole shebang becomes a full-throttle klezmer hoedown. Trading juju and Jewish modes back and forth, the meeting proceeds to its resolution, whereupon it's uncertain whether one should move on to the next Passover Seder or order another round from the bar.

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, The Fourth Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra is led by trumpeter Roger Ruzow, whose past associations include the free jazz quartet, Gold Sparkle Band. East Atlanta Passover Stomp is a swinging, adventurous mash up that evokes the deep love Ruzow has for the charts of Mingus and Ellington, as well as his studious engagement with the Jewish klezmer folk tradition, especially the work of virtuoso clarinetist Naftuli Brandwine, (1884-1963). Wacky as it might seem, it all sounds perfectly wonderful, thanks not only to Ruzow's keenly honed compositional chops, but also the extraordinary playing by the rest of the band, particularly reedman Jeff Crompton, guitarist Colin Bragg and the outstanding rhythm section of bassist Ben Gettys and drummer Keith Leslie.