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CD REVIEW
By Charleston Hepston

The Dream Team – Live at the Lindy Binge
2004 LA/OC Lindy Binge

The Band:  John Reynolds – Guitar, Vocals; Ralph Reynolds – Washboard, Vocals; Wety Westenhofer – String Bass; Josh Colazzo – Drums; Corey Gemme – Cornet; Jim Ziegler – Trumpet; Phil Krawzak – Tenor/Clarinet; Chris Dawson - Piano

This live album is a must for Bal and Shag dancers.  There are 9 tracks from 208 beats a minute up to 293 bpm!  All the songs are early Hot Jazz tunes bringing your senses back to the 1930s.

The musicianship is top-notch all around with fantastic cornet and trumpet solos throughout.  There are fun vocals on Uptown Lowdown that are worth mentioning.   Wendy Rea adds a lot to the song with her Hot Jazz style vocalizing.  Her talent makes this one of my favorite songs on the CD.   Other favorites include a nice rendition of Tea for Two which swings at a comfortable 157 bpm.  Another one of the highlights of this CD is The Music Goes Round and Round.  It’s fun, it swings and it is a comfortable fast song at 208 bpm.  Diga Diga Doo merits mention but clocks in at 253 bpm, which may scare some dancers off the floor.

Nice ballads include It Had to be You and I Thought I Heard Buddy Bolden Say.  The latter again captures that early Hot Jazz or Dixie feel but without the hiss and pops of the original era recordings.

An attempt at humor happens with Biblical Fricatation, which is sure to have any 13 year old boy on the floor in hysterics.  This song is followed up by a version of Caravan, using Biblical Fricatation.  Since I am not a fan of the song Caravan, the method used to do this song is nothing to sneeze at.   If you buy the CD, you’ll get the pun!

The last song, I Got Rhythm, is insanely fast at 293 bpm, but is lots of fun.  This song was used at the Lindy Binge (http://www.jivejunction.com/lax2004/) as a jam song and I can only imagine the energy between the band and the dancers to be something along the lines of extraordinary.

I recommend this CD for your library.  However, you need to be aware that faster songs are the name of the game with this band.  That being said, the musicianship alone is worth the price.  Whether listening to or working up a lather on the dance floor, the band swings like nobody’s business and at the very least is a great jazz album for your collection.