1. I’m Wondering Who
2. The Hottest Man in Town
3. You’re the Cream in My Coffee
4. Passion
5. Dreamer’s Holiday
6. Palesteena
7. How Am I to Know?
8. Eddie’s Lullaby
9. Good Little, Bad Little You
10. Wide Awake
11. I Like to Do Things For You
12. Persian Rug
13. Ukelele Lady
14. Because My Baby Don’t Mean Maybe
15. Just Like a Melody
16. Stage Fright
17. Turn on the Heat
18. Raggin’ the Scale
Thomas "Spats" Langham – Banjo, guitar,
ukelele, vocals
Norman Field – Clarinet, alto and C melody saxes
Keith Nichols – Piano (tracks 1, 4, 6-18)
Malcolm Sked – Sousaphone, double bass
Danny Blyth – Guitar (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7-9, 16,
18), mandolin (track 12))
Debbie Arthurs – Percussion, vocals
Nick Gill – Piano (tracks 2, 3, 5)
Who
said vaudeville was dead? This album induces
nostalgia for the old days, when songs were
cheery and syncopation was rife. Spats Langham
was born in 1971 but he confesses to a love
of "old-fashioned music" and "classic
jazz". So the album includes old songs
like You’re the Cream in My Coffee
(1928) and Ukelele Lady (1925) as well
as classic jazz numbers like Palesteena
(1920) and Raggin’ the Scale (1915).
In
fact the album contains a variety of musical
styles, including acoustic guitar duets (Passion
and Stage Fright) and originals by
Spats himself (Eddie’s Lullaby and
Wide Awake). Langham displays his versatility
on several instruments, especially the banjo,
although his vocals are enthusiastic rather
than polished. Debbie Arthurs also contributes
some winsome vocals alongside her stylish
drumming (though perhaps a little too fond
of the woodblocks and gong). Norman Field
is another versatile musician although, again,
there is a certain amateurishness about his
playing – a criticism which might be levelled
at much of this CD. Perhaps we should simply
accept this as a good-time album to be enjoyed
rather than analysed too closely.
Tony Augarde
see
also review
by Jonathan Woolf
CD Reviews
Lake LACD
228
