“There is a fairly straight line linking Cab Calloway, Louis Jordan, Louis Prima and on to the likes of King Pleasure & The Biscuit Boys and Mike Sanchez in the evolution of jump-jive – French outfit Pink Turtle can now be added to the contemporary end. This seven piece has immense musical talent (thus avoiding a novelty tag) and the same kind of sense of humour as those predecessors too. They are happy to take hits of the last few decades, deconstruct them and then rebuild them as, say, a jumping, Jordanesque blues shuffle (Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Don’t Stop’), a Calloway-ish jiver (’Sultans Of Swing’, appropriately enough) or 50s flavoured group R&B (‘Baker Street’, in the vein of a very early Leiber & Stoller composition). For me though, best of all is ‘You’re The One That I Want’, with its echoes of Duke Ellington’s “jungle sound”, though Bob Marley’s ‘Get Up Stand Up’ runs it close, a cross between Cab Calloway and Ray Charles, or maybe the smoky, early 50s blues ballad renditio n of The Kinks ‘You Really Got Me’. Oh heck, just take a listen to the whole album – it will certainly bring a smile to your face.”
Par Norman DARWEN - WWW.BLUESINTHENORTHWEST.COM
Par Norman DARWEN - WWW.BLUESINTHENORTHWEST.COM
