Originally from New York, this trio are now based in Austin and celebrate 25 years of activity with this, their eleventh album. The band comprise Whit Smith (guitar, vocals), Jake Erwin (upright bass, vocals) and Elana James (fiddle, vocals).
Their music is influenced by artists like Bob Wills, Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grappelli, Bing Crosby, and Cindy Walker. In 2004, the Hot Club of Cowtown were inducted into the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame.
What wows audiences deep in the heart of Texas will not necessarily thrill Europeans in the same manner. This is a niche collection of toe-tapping jazzed-up rhythms that don’t travel so well. For most who live outside the States they are destined to be perceived as little more than a novelty act.
Elana James’s frothy songs tend to focus on romantic love and relationships while Whit Smith’s originals are more rugged affairs. It’s like a musical meeting between Doris Day and Humphrey Bogart. Compare, for instance, her sweet talking celebration of confectionary on My Candy with Smith’s dour retelling of the last moments in the ill-fated life of Billy The Kid.
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Aside from the original compositions, there are three reworking of standards. Three Little Words is the 1930s theme from a film of the same name, Loch Lomond is an incongruous cover of the much covered Scottish ballad, and the closing track is a version of Les Paul and Mary Ford’s How High The Moon.
The exuberant arrangements and three-part vocal harmonies of this happy-go-lucky music has the capacity to brighten up a flagging live event but the seams of the retro-simplicity are fairly shallow.
Hot Club of Cowtown’s website
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