Ted Hefko and the Thousandaires
Distillations of the Blues
Onager
Drumbeats open the pearly gates to Jazz with a tone meant to play mischief…and a show of horns! Hefko and his Thousandaires have perfected Ted’s original music (tracks two through ten) with roundabout three years of touring since album #2, but their third CD, recorded both in Brooklyn and New Orleans, is bluesin' up the retro swayback, take-your-shoes off, ever-so-swingin’ country Cash-like twang with the saxiest menage of vocals and guitar, downright “Butterfly Dreamin’” up some Big Easy/Apple charm. Semi-title track “One More Distillation of the Blues” plays softly when the blues hit hard, and even a song entitled “I Don’t Feel Welcome Here” has an ease to it that brings the listener into the kind of comfort zone only the best of the good music can. –Dionne Charlet
