[Dixielandjazz] The Puppini Sisters

[Steve Barbone]

Perhaps the fringes of OKOM? This article had a neat photo of the Puppini
Sister's performance, dressed in 1940s garb. They play violin, accordion and
harmonica. Sounds like fun. Especially for the Algonquin crowd. Any of you
Britons know them?

Cheers,
Steve Barbone


A Trio Winks at the 1940s and Nods at Today¹s Tunes

NY TIMES - By STEPHEN HOLDEN - May 31, 2007

>From deep inside the lavender murk where performance art meets pop-jazz
nostalgia with a wink and a smirk come the Puppini Sisters, a British
novelty trio that made its North American debut at the Oak Room of the
Algonquin Hotel on Tuesday evening.

Their trappings are familiar from the days of early Bette Midler. Marcella
Puppini, who conceived the group, and her partners, Kate Mullins and
Stephanie O¹Brien, appear in shiny 1940s-style garb, bumping and kicking in
choreographed unison while singing vintage hits from the Boswell Sisters
(³Heebie Jeebies²) and the Andrews Sisters (³Bei Mir Bist Du Schon,² ³Boogie
Woogie Bugle Boy²) in tight three-part harmonies with a rhythm section.

Eccentric sartorial touches signal that the Puppini Sisters are not to be
taken too seriously. Yet their snappy, rapid-fire singing demonstrates that
there is at least some musical substance behind it all; but how much? In
recycling the past the Puppinis can¹t begin to touch a group like the
Manhattan Transfer, whose showmanship coincides with a deep musicality and
scholarly devotion to pop and jazz vocal harmony tradition. In the language
of Cyndi Lauper the Puppinis behave like girls who just want to have fun.

If their harmonies are secure enough not to grate on the ear, none of the
three has an outstanding voice. Their vocalizing generates more rhythmic
energy than harmonic wit. The closest they came on Tuesday to making a
sophisticated musical joke was their exaggerated swoops through ³Java Jive,²
a Manhattan Transfer staple.

In the case of the Transfer, the Pointer Sisters, the Roches and other
American harmony groups that dabble in nostalgia, at least one member has a
distinctive vocal signature. The Puppinis lack an obvious lead singer and
defining personality.

Their ace in the hole is a knack for retrofitting more recent pop and disco
songs into a ¹40s girl-group style. When it works, the gimmick ‹ an
organizing principle of their debut album, ³Betcha Bottom Dollar² (Verve) ‹
is amusing and even enlightening. Blondie¹s ³Heart of Glass² and the
Bangles¹ ³Walk Like an Egyptian² came off on Tuesday as musical toys
ready-made for playful deconstruction. Other songs like Kate Bush¹s
³Wuthering Heights² and the Smiths¹ ³Panic² were flattened under the
stylistic steamroller.

The Puppini Sisters continue through June 9 at the Oak Room of the Algonquin
Hotel, 59 West 44th Street, Manhattan; (212) 419-9331.