Preservation Hall Jazz Band
That’s It!
Reviewed by Stephen Krock
Preservation Hall Jazz Band has a lot to celebrate this week. The release of their new album, That’s It!, appearances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and their one week residency at The McKittrick Hotel in New York. The McKittrick is a special place. Decked out in jazz age décor and housing the theatrical experience, Sleep No More, Preservation Hall fits in like a full arm length glove.
With the recent success of the Great Gatsby soundtrack, it’s a good time to be a jazz band. And an even better time to be a great jazz band. When the Preservation Hall band plays, you time travel to the prohibition era, where you can hear the liquor pouring in the streets and into the mouths of a city’s seedy underbelly. When the lyrics kick in, however, you’re embraced by the warmth of the era’s brokenhearted and hopeful. The vocals have a distinct New Orleans flavor with a hint of Randy Newman. But, it’s a Randy Newman you don’t want to punch in the face.
That’s It! roars as loud as the 20s in tracks like the momentous “Rattlin’ Bones” and warbles wistfully in a solitary spotlight like in the lovely “Emmalena’s Lullaby.” One thing is for certain. “That’s not it” for Preservation Hall Jazz Band.
Rating: Badass
