If you were to make a decision about this album based on the
\ncover art you would just toss it in the can. Hopefully no one will
\npass up this band’s work just because of cheesy graphics. At first
\nimpression, you might think Jumpin’ Juba a bit dopey. Once you give
\nit a chance, though,
\nBumpity Bump<\/i> is an album of old-time “haus” blues done in a
\nnew and refreshing manner.<\/p>\n
With what’s described as a New Orleans party sound, the
\nindie-band Jumpin’ Juba is a festive collaboration primarily
\nbetween two characters, Steve Hurl (guitar and vocals) and Bruce
\nWard (piano). Each has a history in the blues scene, and together
\nthey have established a style of performing that is so fun and
\nenergetic that it’s easy to get caught up in their enthusiasm. They
\nadd secondary performers with Brian Flan on drums and Chris Denune
\non bass.<\/p>\n
Bruce is the boogie-woogie piano man. His nimble fingers fly
\nacross the keyboard on “Fixated Woman.” The song is chock full of
\nhard-hitting notes and light-hearted lyrics like “I got a fixated
\nwoman with a one track mind \/ she got me hot and bothered but I
\nlike it just fine.” The words go on to describe the need for
\npharmaceutical enhancements so he can keep up with this crazy
\nwoman. The fun-loving nature of this tune makes it obvious the band
\ndoesn’t take itself too seriously.<\/p>\n
The talent, however, is worthy of earnest attention on “Four
\nFooted”, an instrumental piece. It kicks butt with the rockin’
\npiano and Bruce’s jivin’ abilities on the piano are exceptionally
\nstrong on this one. “Bruce’s Boogie” is another instruments-only
\nnumber. Lone pianist Ward plays both parts and does it with such
\nlittle effort that you don’t even realize that he has
\nsingle-handedly performed what was originally arranged as a duet
\npiece. I liked the multi-leveled capacity demonstrated, further
\nevidence of the potential of this accomplished pianist.<\/p>\n
Steve is the jammin’ guitar player and “Back Door Blues”
\nhighlights his ability to pound out catchy chords that make you
\nwant to bounce around on the dance floor. It has a bit of hillbilly
\nflavor to it, pulling in some of Steve’s country influences. As a
\nkid, Steve created his own comic strips — perhaps that history
\ninfluenced silly tunes like “Funny Farm.” The corn-ball antics
\nexemplified on this song also reverberate through the entire album,
\nbut this somehow does not diminish the finger-snappin’, toe-tappin’
\ngood time you will have. As a whole, Hurl’s guitar talents take a
\nbackseat to the keyboard ministrations of Ward, but nonetheless,
\nyou will be well entertained by Hurl’s resounding blows to the
\nacoustic, electric, six-string and slide guitars. He additionally
\ncontributes the vocals, which are unfortunately a bit gritty at
\ntimes, but it’s easy to ignore that shortcoming because the music
\non this album is full of life and charisma.<\/p>\n
Combine great music with the band’s intelligent sense of humor
\nand it adds up to a charming album. Although it often comes off as
\na bit goofy,
\nBumpity Bump<\/i> is still a razzin’ good time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":26959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7129],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-38271","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jumpin-juba","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38271"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}