Maybe you think you can’t enjoy the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and their signature New Orleans-style music. You don’t get it, you can’t connect with it, etc. But on That’s It!, the PHJB proves there’s nothing to “get” or “connect with”—it’s just really good music.
The band has been around since the early 1960’s and alums include Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton. With that kind of staying power, you wonder how the group has evolved or changed to maintain relevancy. But the group hasn’t changed—they’ve maintained relevancy by staying wonderfully the same.
Their collaborators may have a more modern edge to them (Jim James, lead singer of My Morning Jacket, produced the album) but the sound is all vintage brass-band fare. Check out “August Nights” if you want a song to match your fedora and trench coat on a foggy night. The title track is pure grit—fat oom-pah notes from the tuba and loud blasts from the trumpets.
Try standing still when you hear it. That difficulty you feel is why the band has lasted for decades.
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