[Dixielandjazz] Louis Prima Jr. reviewed

[Robert Ringwald]

Louis Prima Jr.: Blow
by Jack Goodstein
Blogcritics.org, June 9, 2014
Those of us old enough to remember the antics of trumpeter, vocalist, and clowning
entertainer Louis Prima, his wild sax-playing sidekick Sam Butera and the rest of
the Witnesses, those of us who remember the impassively stone-faced Keely Smith doing
her best to ignore the Prima horseplay, may well find the best thing on Blow, the
new album from Louis Prima Jr. and his version of the Witnesses, the fifth track,
"That's My Home." That's because on that track, one of the voices you're going to
hear, one that you can't help but recognize, is that of the man himself. It is Louis
Prima in one of those posthumous duets (a la Natalie and Nat) with Junior through
the magic of sampling. And for old timers, this one track is enough, you really don't
need the rest of the album.
That's not to say there isn't some good listening. Louis Prima Jr. is a professional
and he's got a talented group of musicians to work with. It is simply that, for the
old-timer in me, Louis Prima is special. Put it down to nostalgia; put it down to
Disney's The Jungle Book. Put it down to whatever you like, Louis Prima may not have
been best trumpeter around, he would certainly have had to take a back seat to another
gravel-voiced Louis, but if you wanted to see a performer filled with the joy of
performing, Prima was primo.
Louis Prima Jr.'s album captures something of the Prima vibe, but not quite the same
level of good time joy. Blow's 11 tracks include six originals by Louis and members
of the Witnesses and one from the album's producer. They open with the title track,
which gives saxophonist Marco Palos an opportunity to explode on the stage with a
big tenor solo. Although running only something over two minutes, it may well be
the most exciting track on the disc. "Go Let's Go" offers up a good time New Orleans
sound. The later track, titled "New Orleans," has a catchy hook in the tradition
of the best of the New Orleans tunes. "Fame and Glory" has something of a gospel
feel. And "Someday" is a soulful ballad for vocalist Leslie Spencer, who is also
featured on "I Just Wanna Have Fun." They do covers of Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes"
and Prima senior's "Robin Hood" from 1944. The Witnesses can swing; they can rock.
But for this listener, if I had to make one of those Sophie's Choices, give me the
vintage Prima.
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by John Paul
PopMatters, June 10, 2014
Stamping a "Jr." on the end of a famous name almost instantly implies a lesser version,
a sub-par rendering of an icon who could never possibly live up to the original name
preceding it. It's a somewhat egomaniacal thing to do, even more so in the case of
entertainers. For the average person, it allows their name to live on through their
children. For an entertainer, and a famous one at that, it often sets an impossible
standard to which the younger could never possibly hope to exceed (see: Frank Sinatra
Jr).
With his second album, Blow, Louis Prima Jr. seeks to replicate the sound and feel
perfected by his more famous father in the 1950s. While things start off promisingly
enough with the instrumental title track, featuring a wild lead from saxophonist
Ted Schumacher, they quickly descend into a pale imitation of the work of Prima Sr.
The band (here dubbed the Witnesses, also the name of his father's band) is able
enough and willing to take on a decent big band-style swing tune, but the album's
overall slick production and even slicker playing buffs the raw energy of the elder
Prima's most popular recordings to a glossy shine.
Beyond that, Prima Jr.'s singing voice often oddly resembles Louis Prima doing David
Lee Roth doing Louis Prima circa Diamond Dave's Crazy From The Heat. It's rather
jarring at times and, when the original Louis Prima does make an appearance on the
album in a duet with his son ("That's My Home"), he more than ably outshines the
younger performer and leaves the listener wanting more of that wild-style for which
he was famous. While the tunes are by no means weak ("Someday", one of several showcases
for Keely Smith stand-in Leslie Spencer, is a particularly fine bluesy number), they
have the unmistakable feel of regional dinner theatre: a watered down distillation
that, while pleasant and vaguely familiar, is no substitute for the original.
-30


-Bob Ringwald K6YBV
www.ringwald.com
916/ 806-9551

"I always thought that record would stand until it was broken."
-- Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra