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- Hot Club of Cowtown
Continental Stomp
Hightone Records HCD1863
By Marianne Ebertowski
 "I can't
handle this shit. I'm going down to Cowtown," Western swing
steel guitarist Bob Nunn once said after Nashville had really
got to him some time in the thirties. I don't know whether Austin
can be considered today's Cowtown, but Elena Fremerman, Whit
Smith and Jake Erwin apparently thought so, packed their violin,
guitar and bass, saddled their horses, followed the trail to
the Lone Star State and picked the Continental Club as their
"headquarters."
Continental Stomp is Hot Club of Cowtown's fifth album
and their first live CD and that is about time. Recorded at
the Continental Club on a warm night in May 2003 and produced
by the inevitable Lloyd Maines, it shows the Hot Club in all
their splendor: with their extraordinary instrumental skills
and their passion for a type of music they discovered after many
detours through classical and rock territory, they set the club
on fire right away. From the Jimmy Hugh classic "Diga Diga
Doe" to a captivating version of "Orange Blossom Special,"
Continental Stomp is one great exciting roller coaster
ride through a musical world that seemed almost forgotten. The
Hot Club of Cowtown do an excellent job in reviving the music
of Bob Wills, Milton Brown or the Light Crust Doughboys, and
- what's even better - it's not some yellowish, nostalgic post
card memory they conjure, it's the real thing: fresh, colorful
and incredibly cool.
What differentiates the Hot Club from a mere revival band
is the class and individuality with which they approach the musical
heritage as well as their unbridled passion for it. Fremerman,
Smith and Erwin play music like Abby Wambach plays football:
with all your heart and soul and you keep going till the last
whistle blow or, should I rather say, till the last cow comes
home.
I have to confess that I am not a great fan of Elana Fremerman's
singing (which is largely compensated by my admiration for her
fiddling), it sometimes seems to lack "commitment"
- I usually prefer Whit Smith's more engaging vocal style, but
in some songs, her detached style works just fine. It certainly
does in the Fred Rose standard "Deed I Do," it does
less in "I Can't Give you Anything But Love, Baby,"
but that's only my taste ad the audience certainly thinks otherwise.
Whit Smith leads the way through "Chinatown," "Ida
Red" and "Pennies from Heaven," before the band
dives into a frenzied version of Spade Cooley's "Crazy 'Cause
I Love You." Again, I don't find Elana's singing very convincing,
but the fiddling is absolutely hot and so are Smith's guitar
licks and as Jake Erwin finally gets the chance to slap his bass
around like crazy, the song swings like it was meant to and the
audience loves it.
Whit Smith is the leading man in classics as "The Girl
I Left behind Me" and "After You've Gone." Then
the moment has come for the trio to tear into the song that sounds
like the definite highlight of the evening. Jay Livingston,
Mitchell Parish and Abner Silverand wrote it, Willie Nelson made
it famous, Whit Smith sings it and the band plays the hell out
of it: "My Window Faces the South." After every instrumental
break, you can hear the temperatures rise and there's only one
way to top this and that is by ripping straight away into "Orange
Blossom Special."
Does the world really need another version of "Orange
Blossom Special?" Not necessarily, but this one has a disarming
charm thanks to Elana's absolutely stunning fiddling, by times
sounding as if she plays the violin with her teeth, which sends
the audience into almost mass hysteria. Then, suddenly, the roller
coaster stops, and the audience that has been roaring and screaming
and hollering and hooting throughout the whole ride, falls silent
like disappointed and tired children who can't believe that all
the fun has come to an end. The Continental crowd is lucky:
they will not have to wait long for another night of Hot Club
cow swing.
The album doesn't stop here. There are two more treats for
the listeners: a very smooth studio version of Sinatra's "I
Can't Believe You're in Love with Me" and a hidden track,
the rather corny "Pussy, Pussy, Pussy." Yeah well,
I guess it helps if you're on a steaming dance floor and you
had a couple of drinks it doesn't really work when you're
sitting in front of your computer, sober as a new born baby,
writing a review. But then again - luckily, - most music is not
being made for that purpose. The Hot Club of Cowtown's music
is there to enjoyand this reviewer did.
For more information go to:
www.hightone.com
www.hotclubofcowtown.com
Contact Marianne Ebertowski at ebertowski-at-rockzilla.net
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