CD Review

Over the span of 28 years, ten full-length albums (eight studio, two live) and countless rowdy concerts, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band has proven over time that while most things change, there are those precious few things that remain the same. Such is the case with DDBB. This Is The Dirty Dozen Brass Band Collection exemplifies this beautifully borrowing from all ten DDBB releases while all 15 tracks manage to coexist effortlessly.

Unlike some “greatest hits” collections, this one actually delivers: six of their ten albums landed in the Top 20 on the Jazz charts. But this release is more than just a collection of hits, more importantly this album will serve as a friendly reminder to all that these brass funk masters are the real deal and always have been. They’ve been laying down the silky smooth New Orleans style jazz and R&B since some of you were in He-Man pajamas. Respect it.

The opening two numbers, “My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now” and “Mardi Gras in New Orleans,” jump out of the speakers brimming with Bourbon Street spirit mashing R&B, jazz and soul in such a forward thinking manner that even today, twenty years after their original release, burst with originality and spunk. Other highlights include the more traditional “Oop Pop A Dah” featuring the great Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet and scat vocals, a fresh take on The Meters’ Mardi Gras classic, “Cissy Strut,” and a stunning cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler).”

This Is The Dirty Dozen Brass Band Collection promises to be one of the most exciting greatest hits albums to come out this year as well as a noticeable upgrade over the previously available DDBB collection, This Is Jazz, if only for the reason that it covers a longer time span. The only problem is that with the band still performing around a hundred shows a year, it is only logical that we can expect a few more albums in the future and therefore one more greatest hits album.