Since the November 2015 release, our CD/DVD The Very Next Thing has been receiving national airplay and critical acclaim. DownBeat Magazine (current issue) gave the album 4-stars calling us “a hot jazz band that really brings the heat.” The Times of London notes: “There’s no point in trying to pin a label on an extrovert American band, let by guitarist, Nick Russo, who set out to cover so many bases from hot jazz to folk, blues and Big Easy funk…. unfailingly high-spirited. Purists will hate it. Everyone else will have a good time.” ________________________________________________________ The Hot Jazz Jumpers Revisit and Reinvent the Wildly Syncretic Spirit of the 1920s by delarue True to their name, the Hot Jazz Jumpers‘s sound springboards off of oldtimey 20s and 30s swing. And in the spirit of those mostly unsung, regional combos who ripped up dancefloors back in the day, the Hot Jazz Jumpers mash up styles from all over the map. The seventeen tracks on their new album The Very Next Thing and live concert dvd comprise swing, delta blues, southern rock, C&W, Carolina Coast folk music, free improvisation and more. So their sound is totally retro – yet completely in the here and now, another case where the old is new again. they’re playing the album release show on Friday, November 6 at 11 PM in the cozy confines at Pete’s, which should be party in a box – literally. As a bonus, guitarist/bandleader Nick Russo does double duty, opening the night at 10 with a set with his ambitious large-ensemble jazz project Nick Russo +11, who’re celebrating their ninth year in business. The new album opens with a scampering take of Back Home Again in Indiana, sung by banjoist/guitarist/dancer Betina Hershey. Lots of period-perfect, quirky touches here, from the twin banjos, to Walter Stinson’s sotto vocce bass solo, even a dinner bell. They follow that with Freight Train, a dobro-driven oldtime C&W tune, Hershey’s honeyed vocals evoking Laura Cantrell. The take of Caravan here is a long, loose, otherworldly-tinged shuffle with vocalist Miles Griffith’s rustic, impassioned gullah-inspired vocals, Russo’s spiraling solo echoing Gordon Au’s jaunty trumpet lines. Griffith’s gruffly animated scatting contrasts with Hershey’s summery warmth on You Are My Sunshine, reinvented as a sprawling soukous jam. Nobody But My Baby Is Getting My Love gets an oldtimey banjo swing treatment livened with Josh Holcomb’s wry, amiable trombone. Russo and Griffith do both In a Mellow Tone and Manha de Carnaval as a duo, the ancient paired against the brand-new. Driven by Russo’s slide guitar, Jock-a-Mo looks back to the Grateful Dead, if with considerably more focus. Dirty 40 slowly builds from stark delta blues to a Stonesy ba-bump Beggars Banquet groove. Fueled by the banjos and Hershey’s sassy delivery, Sweet Georgia Brown mashes up 40s swing, bucolic string band ambience and an Aiko Aiko Crescent City bounce. They keep the Aiko Aiko thing going through the spirited Jam for Lenny. Hershey’s nuanced sense of angst breathes new life into a slowly swinging, bristling, banjo-propelled take of Ain’t Misbehavin. By contrast, they do Got My Mojo Working as a loose Mississippi juke joint jam, Russo’s slide guitar front and center. The upbeat dance vibe continues through the oldtimey swing of When the Red Red Robin Goes Bob-Bob-Bobbin’ Along, then the band mashes up gospel, gullah folk and bluegrass in This Little Light of Mine. There’s also a second take of Jock-a-Mo and a lively jam on the way out. The album hasn’t officially hit the street just yet, but copies are available at shows and the opening track is up at soundcloud. _________________________________________________ Michael Steinman review: EXPANSIVE, EXUBERANT: “THE VERY NEXT THING,” THE HOT JAZZ JUMPERS Let me begin with a public service announcement. If you prefer your jazz safe, timid, predictable; if you like it to be categorizable, neatly cut into half-inch dice, please read no farther. The CD/DVD package I am about to announce and praise, THE VERY NEXT THING, is anything but formulaic. It is, as leader Nick Russo says in the video below, an “eclectic mix of music.”
 
 Now, I first met Nick a number of years ago as a member of Gordon Au’s Grand Street Stompers, Emily Asher’s Garden Party, and other groups.  I knew, when I came in the door and saw Nick that there were going to be engaging — sometimes surprising — melodies created, that the rhythm would be bountiful and imaginative.  I could relax and anticipate great things.  But I’d never heard Nick’s Hot Jazz Jumpers until now, when they are celebrating the pre-release of their new CD/DVD, and they make fine unfettered spacious music. Most compact discs by one musical organization that come my way — and this is not surprising — offer similar musical experiences all the way through, sometimes seventy-five minutes’ worth.  And for many listeners, this is consoling, rather like buying a chunk of Manchego at the cheese counter. But the HJJ (if I may be so informal) are too large, energetic, and unruly to be confined to one stylistic box.  So the new disc — with seventeen performances — offers the beautifully idiomatic “traditional jazz” of WHEN THE RED, RED ROBIN COMES BOB, BOB, BOBBIN’ ALONG featuring trusted New York swing stars Gordon Au and Dennis Lichtman among others . . . three tracks later, one hears a free improvisation for Nick, guitar, and Miles Griffith, voice.  The range of repertoire is delightful broad, brave, and the results are compelling: CARAVAN, YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE, NOBODY BUT MY BABY IS GETTING MY LOVE (when was the last time you heard that Clarence Williams song performed?), IN A MELLOTONE, SWEET GEORGIA BROWN, MANHA DE CARNAVAL, AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’, I’VE GOT MY MOJO WORKING, and THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE.  Then there are originals and less familiar numbers: two versions of the New Orleans JOCK-A-MO, the bluegrass FREIGHT TRAIN, JAM FOR LENNY, DIRTY40. Listening to the CD, I was delighted by its expansive conceptions: the Hot Jazz Jumpers offered what their name promised, but I also heard more contemporary New Orleans music, echoes of Motown, of classic rhythm ‘n’ blues,  and less familiar forms that I learned were Gullah Geechee rhythms, North Indian classical music, and world music.  I heard subtle and bold percussion and rhythms, and two powerful voices: Bettina Hershey’s, vibrant, folk-inflected, eloquent, and the quite remarkable Miles Griffith, who — singing or scatting — roams freely in his own universe, whose monarchs are Leo Watson and Leon Thomas. On the CD, you’ll hear Nick, guitar, tenor banjo, resonator, baritone resonator; Bettina Hershey, voice, guitar; Miles Griffith, voice / scats; David Pleasant, drums, harmonica, voice; Essiet Essiet, bass; Mamadou Ba, bass; Gordon Au. trumpet; Josh Holcomb, trombone; Dennis Lichtman, clarinet; Mike Russo, guitar.  The accompanying DVD has Eleven more songs, including video presentations of CARAVAN (with a delightful impromptu beginning), INDIANA, NOBODY BUT MY BABY, RED RED ROBIN, FIVE FOOT TWO, and some other surprises. The beautiful art is by Roy Kinzer. Marc Solomon reply to Michael Steinman's review/blog | July 19, 2015 at 11:04 AM | 
“Hot Jazz”? Yes. But in many ways this group of very individually different individuals is bringing back a fun, playful excitement not experienced much since the days of ” Jass”. Having said that, it is a true craft how they incorporate and perform different genres to be enjoyed like opening shiny, bright packages on Christmas morning. Thank you so much for introducing me to the talent of “Hot Jazz Jumpers”!
 _________________________________________________________________________ Midwest Records review: ON THE BOL records: HOT JAZZ JUMPERS/Very Next Thing: Sure, anyone can serve up 20s and 30s hot jazz nostalgia but can they do it in a way that makes you forget the stuff you enjoyed in the past? This unruly mob led by guitarist Nick Russo often sounds like everyone isn't on the same page but it's more joyful noise than cacophony---much more. Whether raucous or reigned in, this bunch of pros has no problem with mixing Libby Cotton with Luis Bonfa with spirituals and calling it all hot jazz. An ambitious gasser that also includes a DVD in the package, this is one dead solid perfect adult good time that has so much on the ball it takes repeated listenings to take it all in. A high water mark of a good time throughout. ____________________________________________________ Fulvuedrive-in review: Hot Jazz Jumpers: The Very Next Thing (2015) is a new DVD/CD Set from the independent label On The Bol Records featuring the Jazz vocal band (led by Nick Russo) delivering some key classics and doing a pretty decent job of it. Benita Hershey is the lead singer as they cover the likes of Caravan, Sweet Georgia Brown, Jam For Lenny, Ain't Misbehavin' and a clever variation on When The Red Red Robin [Comes Bob Bob Bobbin' Along] among the 17 tracks on the CD. We get six clips on the DVD, but I wanted more, especially since there was room. Still, this is a revival band worth looking out for and their energy reminded me of The Manhattan Transfer, as well as the great cover albums cycle that started with better releases in the early 1980s like Linda Ronstadt's What's New, so this set is definitely worth your time. Solid musicianship too!