From the street to the concert halls, the voyage of the big New Orleans band Tuba Skinny is not unlike the story of New Orleans jazz itself: a rich and poignant stew of high and low, raw and refined. All backline groove, forlorn blues, wild Dixieland counterpoint and eccentric songs from bygone worlds, Blue Chime Stomp, Tuba Skinny’s seventh release, betrays essentially no modern influence of any kind, other than the current generation’s fondness for throwbacks thrown way, way back. While we don’t have the production details in hand at the moment, it would not be surprising if Blue Chime Stomp were recorded with entirely period gear.
This swinging ten-piece collective features the anachronistic, eccentric and entirely convincing vocals of Erika Lewis. The banjos, reeds, washboards and low-end tuba groove deeply. One thing that you don’t have to ask after hearing the band swinging through “Oh Papa” or the haunted rural blues of “Corrine” is, “What do they sound like live?” This is it. And it is damn good. Ragtime, blues, backline, but no funk: Blue Chime Stomp is polyglot in its style, but within strict historical parameters.
A legendary live band, Tuba Skinny brings it to the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock on Wednesday, September 7 at 8 p.m. Admission costs $12 in advance, $15 on the day of the show. For tickets and more information, visit www.bearsvilletheater.com. For more on Tuba Skinny, visit https://tubaskinny.bandcamp.com. The Bearsville Theater is located at 291 Tinker Street in Woodstock.
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