Fat Babies, The

5 STARS DOWN BEAT MAGAZINE (February 2017)

Based in Chicago—a city that spawned its own brand of trad jazz—The Fat Babies were founded by bassist Beau Sample six years ago. Since that time, they have built up a large repertoire and demonstrated quite a bit of versatility. "Solid Gassuh" features The Fat Babies emulating many different groups, mostly from the 1926–’32 period. Rather than being hardcharging Dixieland, the performances mostly have The Fat Babies sounding like a relaxed but hot dance band from the time, despite only having three horns. While the group sometimes uses transcriptions from vintage records, their solos are creative within the genre, rather than pure copies.

PERSONNEL:

BEAU SAMPLE, string bass
ANDY SCHUMM, cornet
JOHN OTTO, clarinet, alto sax
DAVE BOCK, trombone
PAUL ASARO, piano
JAKE SANDERS, tenor banjo, guitar
ALEX HALL, drums

TRACKS:

01. Doctor Blues
02. After A While
03. Feelin' Good
04. Did You Ever See A Dream Walking?
05. Original Charleston Strut
06. Pencil Papa
07. I Miss a Little Miss
08. Parkway Stomp
09. You Were Only Passing Time with Me
10. Alabamy Bound
11. Slow River
12. Delirium
13. Egyptian Ella
14. Sing Song Girl
15. Maple Leaf Rag