A house band mainstay on the Bay Area circuit,
Rhythmtown Jive's
third album enlivens their Second Line New Orleans strut with a strong blues base at its core with solid guest piano work from
Johnnie Johnson
on seven tracks, who also wrote them. The album also features guest cameos from R&B siren
Rahni Raines
,
Steve Freund
on guitar and a full horn section blasting its way into creation.
Johnson
shines on
"Slow Drag"
and the band does their "Nawlins" thing on the opener "Kidd Jordan's Second Line" and "Mighty Fine Day." The instrumentals "Blues Hotel," "Jet Stream" and the closer "Boogie Woogie" (a true showcase for
Johnson's
stride work) are still this band's meat, however, and this disc gives a strong indication of why this band is so often the backing group for visiting blues and R&B stars who need a top flight band behind them. ~ Cub Koda