CSPS debut |
From the bright lights
of the Grand Ol’ Opry to regular appearances on Prairie Home Companion,
The Hot Club of Cowtown have ascended from unlikely beginnings in NYC’s
East Village to become the premier ambassadors of hot jazz and Western
swing.
On the brand new CD Wishful Thinking (Gold Strike), the core group of Elana
James (fiddle, vocals), Whit Smith (guitar, vocals) and Jake Erwin
(upright bass) reunite for their first new album in five years. Infused
with a colorful montage of characters and perspectives, Wishful Thinking
shows the band deftly embracing disparate influences, from the combustible
“Can’t Go on this Way” by Texas swing master Bob Wills, to the minor key
gypsy violin and longing chorus of “Reunion.” The music here is elegant
and imaginative: Elana’s spring-fingered violin solos and Whit’s
effortless, liquid guitar lines all propelled by Jake’s driving,
percussive upright bass. Across the entire album, there is a palpable
sense of both genuine excitement and the keening longing expressed in
ballads: Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia,” sung by Whit, and Elana’s “little
girl lost” turn at George and Ira Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch Over Me.”
Whit’s original, “Carry Me Close,” is a song of loss and regret that
echoes the classic feel of Appalachian mountain ballads.
Wishful Thinking is also the first-ever HCCT record with drums, courtesy
of Damien Llanes. The new pulse is evident on songs like “Cabiria,”
inspired by one of Fellini’s most famous characters, with its noir
sophistication that could land it on the soundtrack of a European art film
as easily as late-night country radio. The shuffling brushwork on “Heart
of Romain,” Elana’s homage to the of French film director Tony Gatlif
(known for documentary-style glimpses into Romani music and culture)
captures the musical sophistication and sizzle of Stephane Grappelli and
Django Reinhardt.
Lauded on NPR, darlings of international stages from Japan’s Fuji Rock
Festival to Stagecoach and all points in between, HCCT began as a
combustible trio playing traditional music but began to develop its own
sound through invitations to collaborate, tour and work with more
contemporary artists. The trio was hired (and survived) tours with Bob
Dylan and Willie Nelson, first opening for them, then playing with them.
Elana, a classically trained violinist and the legitimate heir to the
great tradition of Western swing, which she learned firsthand horse
wrangling and working with Texas fiddle masters (and a few stolen
encounters with traveling Romany fiddlers), became the first dedicated
female instrumentalist to tour in Bob Dylan’s band in over 30 years.
An invitation from Bryan Ferry to reinterpret his material coaxed the band
into the modern mainstream. Rachel Ray put them in her cookbook. Their
live shows and performances on “Later with Jools Holland” have brought the
band international acclaim and a little closer to the millions waiting to
fall in love with their music. Basically, HCCT has taken a traditional
idiom, dusted it off, transfigured it, and reinterpreted it on its own
terms. The music is blazing, modern, and has more energy than ever.
Thu Oct 22 | 8 pm CSPS | 1103 Third St SE | Cedar Rapids $15
+ fee in advance | $18 at the door
