Swing is still the thing!
Lead by vocalist and trumpeter Rob Dehlinger, the rotating 8 member Alpha Rhythm Kings provides Louis Prima-styled swing with a hotcha attitude. Dehlinger sings like a street corner watch salesman as he jives around Fil Lorenz’s smoky tenor on pieces like “Fools Are Getting Scarcer” while Carroll Ashby’s trombone plunges lower than Kim Kardashian’s neckline on “The Anaheim Hop”. The band does a double timed read of “That’s’ Life” and beats 8 to the bar on “The Shiek Of Araby”. A wild jam gives a JATP atomosphere on “The Pump Song” while the horns are big and bluesy on the boogie’d “Short, Sweet and Snappy”. Sharper than a Versace suit.
Playing the clarinet, soprano or tenor sax and even singing, Evan Arntzen leads a two beat team of Charlie Halloran/tb, Jon-Erik Kellso/tp, Mike Davis/tp, Arnt Arnten/g-banj, Dalton Ridenhour/p, tal Ronen and Mark McLean/dr. Vintage vocalist Catherine Russell belts it out a bit as well on the fun “Muskrat Ramble” and bluesy “If You Were Mine” while also joining in on the old-antiquated recording on a cylinder of “After You’ve Gone”. Leader Arntzen agonizingly sears his clarinet on “Solitarity” while his vocals are reminiscent of Johnny Mercer on “Georgia Cabin”. Sandwiched between the trad jazz and the archaic sounding cylinders are a handful of cool sounding modern tunes, with cool tones on “Counter Intuitive” and a nifty drum patter on “Alvita” while Ridenhour bops like a Blue Noter on “Bu’s March”. Toe tapping treasures.