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Reviewed by Stu Edwards

Kelburn Viaduct Municipal Ensemble Jugband: Stomp Around The Floor

Reviewed by Stu Edwards

Kelburn Viaduct Municipal Ensemble Jugband: Stomp Around The Floor

The Kelburn Viaduct Municipal Ensemble Jugband will take you on a journey back in time. Hailing from Wellington, the band’s sound is given historical flavour with homemade instruments including a tea chest bass, washboard, stomp box and jug. With a 50/50 mix of covers and originals, the band’s songs blend well and contrast perfectly with interpretations of tracks from artists including Jelly Roll Morton and Canadian swing revivalist Colin James. Their exuberant performance of She Moves In Mysterious Ways and the haunting vocal of The Devil’s Shoes are fully engaging, the inclusion of covers evidently through choice and not necessity. Robert Johnson’s If I Had Possession On Judgement Day is given a makeover with a Dixieland groove, while Leadbelly’s Bourgeois Blues is also given a more accessible arrangement and straighter rhythm. Recorded live in a dining room ‘Stomp Around The Floor’ is as real as it gets and a worthy addition to the buy-now list.