It Looks Like a Big Time

This is one of the best of the "newer" recordings put out by Big Bill Bissonette's Jazz Crusade label. While the second album led by the highly rhythmic tenor saxophonist Sarah Bissonette's name (Here Comes Sarah) is way out of tune, this slightly earlier effort finds an eight-piece band of top British players under her leadership, sounding perfectly in-tune both technically and with each other. Such unlikely songs as "Martha," "About a Quarter to Nine" (here renamed "About a Quarter to 88" after pianist Johnny Parker), "Under the Bamboo Tree," "Love Nest," and "Mama Inez" are swung hard by the rousing ensemble. In addition to Bissonette, the key players include trumpeter Dave Copperwaite, trombonist Geoff Cole (who sounds close to Kid Ory at times), and clarinetist Brian Carrick. Easily recommended to New Orleans jazz fans.