Veteran clarinetist
Jacques Gauthe pays tribute to
Lu Watters & the Yerba Buena Jazz Band with his own Creole Rice Yerba Buena Jazz Band. While there are a couple features for his clarinet as the only horn in a quintet ("Creole Jazz" and "St. Germain Dance"), most of the selections team
Gauthe in an octet with cornetist
Duke Heitger, trumpeter Chris Tyle, and trombonist Tom Ebert. Some of the songs are taken from the
Watters repertoire while others are more obscure. John Gill (heard on either banjo or trombone) takes five vocals in the Clancy Hayes tradition. Highlights along the way include "Aggravatin' Papa," "Auntie Skinner's Chicken Dinner," "More Time Papa," and "Oh By Jingo." Fans of San Francisco traditional jazz will enjoy this spirited set, which includes several lesser-known numbers by the legendary French clarinetist
Claude Luter. ~ Scott Yanow