This is a slightly off-the-wall project that succeeds quite well. In the 1920s, pianist
Lovie Austin's Blues Serenaders recorded a series of numbers that usually featured cornetist
Tommy Ladnier, clarinetist
Jimmy O'Bryant and drummer
W.E. Burton. In 1988, veteran pianist
Art Hodes (83 at the time) teamed up with three Europeans (cornetist
Abbi Hubner, clarinetist Reimer Von Essen and drummer
Trevor Richards) to perform new versions of ten of the 16 songs originally recorded by
Austin, plus
Hodes' "Blues for Lovie Austin." The ensemble-oriented music (mostly blues-oriented obscurities from the mid-'20s) is given very favorable treatment by the four players, all of whom clearly understand the idiom. Classic jazz fans will want this somewhat obscure effort.