(Jump Blues) The Prima Donnas - My Regeneration - 2000, MP3, 320 kbps

An all-star band of 8 Toronto music veterans breathe new life into 12 Rock and Rock n Roll classics on their debut release My Regeneration.
John Dickie (Cameo Blues Band, Mondo Combo, Q 107 blues radio host) fronts this band of great players and bent characters. Michael (the idea man) Sloski (Bruce Cockburn, Prairie Oyster, The Dexters) powers the rhythm section on drums, with his incredible feel and twisted flare for the unusual and forgotten.. Russ Boswell ( Cory Hart, ...) plays mainly acoustic bass and drives the jump rhythm and helps set these unique grooves. Norm Brown (Mondo Combo) lays down some smokin' boogie in Roll em Pete and turns the 'Roogalator' on for a N'Orleans/Dr John version of the Beatles You Can't Do That. The horn section is Chris Mitchell on sax who lays down some burning solos and Gord Myers on Trombone. The horn lines are always creative and frequently hilarious. Two guests sit in with the boys on some of the tracks. Toronto Blues guitar legend Fred Keeler, (David Clayton Thomas and the Shays) plays his famous guitar styling that has influenced Toronto guitarists from Robbie Robertson (The Band) and Domenic Troiano (Mandala). Rob Gusevs (2B3, The Sisters Euclid) fills out the sound with some tasty Hammond B3 playing.
All tracks were recorded with everyone in the room at the same time;. lead vocals and horns included. One room, no isolation, no overdubs. Just REAL players playing REAL music in REALtime. All backgrounds were done while they played their instruments. We wanted to capture the drama of the performance and the energy of this band without resorting to any studio tricks. The result, I believe is a CD which reminds one of the classic Rock n Roll sessions of the past. You can't replace the feel of people playing music together at the same time. Reacting to and playing off each other. Of course to pull this off, you have to be an accomplished musician and know how to play under fire. These guys fit the bill. The Prima Donnas ROCK.
The Prima Donnas have been together for about ten years playing the Toronto bar scene. They began by playing the Jump Swing music of Louis Prima, hence the name The'Prima' Donnas. Soon they wanted to branch out and began doing arrangements of offbeat tunes in the style of Louis Prima. They became quite notorious in the Toronto area for their sense of humour and exploration in these musical journeys. Now the connection to Louis Prima is even less defined as they let their imagination take them in whatever direction a song might suggest to them. Anything is game and anything is possible. They are thoroughly entertaining.
You've got to check them out. If only for the fun of hearing there irreverent takes on your favourite tunes.