Last Chance Jug Band - Shake That Thing (CD)

All Music Guide

Assembled to update the sound of the old Memphis jug bands of the 1920s and 1930s, the Last Chance Jug Band is led by David Evans, a scholar, field researcher, and director of the ethnomusicology department at the University of Memphis. This isn't an academic project in recreating times past, though, but a real attempt to translate the sound of the old jug bands into a contemporary setting, which means, in a word, drums. So Shake That Thing rocks out with a wonderfully ragged and loose sound complete with jugs, washboards, and kazoos, all centered 'round Evans' slightly shaky (but very effective) high vocals. The end result is a Memphis streetcorner party disc that is unbelievably fun. Highlights include "Last Chance Blues," the loopy "Who Pumped the Wind in My Doughnut," "Mississippi River Blues," and a solid cover of "Viola Lee Blues," here entitled "The Judge He Pleaded."

- Steve Leggett, All Music Guide