Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Alex Belhaj's Crescent City Quartet: Sugar Blues
Alex Belhaj's Crescent City Quartet: Sugar Blues
ByMichigan-based guitarist Alex Belhaj visited New Orleans in the spring of 2010, and that trip proved life-altering for him. Upon his return from NOLA, Belhaj immersed himself in the waters of traditional jazz. He soaked up those sounds on record, caught quite a lot of live music, and wound up assembling this band, comprised of fellow trad jazz travelers from Ohio and Michigan.
Sugar Bluesthe debut recording from Alex Belhaj's Crescent City Quartetis a good-time affair, complete with high-flying horns, simple-but-pleasing vocals, and chugging rhythmic fixtures. There's nothing terribly surprising here, as little is left undiscovered in the early twentieth century contributions of men like Clarence Williams, Sidney Bechet, and Jelly Roll Morton, but this music isn't being sold as surprise; it's sold, instead, with honesty and verve.
Upbeat moments abound ("Weary Blues" and "Viper Mad"), the music takes breezy turns ("His Eye Is On The Sparrow"), and the spirit of the blues persists as Belhaj and his men perform. Ray Heitger's clarinet and Dave Kosmyna's cornet comfortably carry the weight of history and the spirit of the Crescent City, Belhaj's guitar and Jordan Schug's bass lay the groundwork on every number, and the charmingly plain vocals of Belhaj, Heitger, and Kosmyna deliver the gospel according to old world jazz. There's not much risk on Sugar Blues, save for a brief bonus track that delivers avant-dixieland clamor, but there remains plenty of reward(s) in the music that Belhaj and his band mates have made.
Track Listing
Weary Blues; My Bucket's Got A Hole In It; Sugar Blues; Careless Love; Viper Mad; His Eye Is On The Sparrow; Four Or Five Times; My Man Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll); Tiger Rag; Sitting On Top Of The World; You Don't Love Me; Take My Hand, Precious Lord.
Personnel
Ray Heitger: clarinet, vocals; Dave Kosmyna: cornet, vocals; Jordan Schug: bass; Alex Belhaj: guitar, vocals.
Album information
Title: Sugar Blues | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Self Produced