CD PICK OF THE WEEK: TWO-MAN GENTLEMAN BAND “HEAVY PETTING”
Okay, I am a sucker for catchy song titles. When I glance at a CD, I usually listen to a title that catches my eye – perhaps a clever phrase, an intriguing subject, or just something different. When I received the Two Man Gentleman Band’s latest CD “Heavy Petting“, my eyes were drawn to cut #4. Tell me you would not be curious to listen to a song called “When Your Lips are Playing My Kazoo“? When I listened to the cut, I was not disappointed! Fear not, they are are truly “gentleman” and live up to the high class that you would expect from such dandies!
The Two Man Gentlman Band are a New York City duo that plays songs that sound like the lost treasures from theVaudeville era. Blending hot jazz, Dixieland, old-time string band and country swirled together with a liberal dose of tin pan alley for good measure – the Two Man Gentleman Band are an exciting whirlwind of musical energy. The kazoo has never sounded finer!
Andy Bean and Fuller Condon are the Two Man Gentleman Band. Bean receives the writers credit for most of the songs on the new CD, with Condon contributing “Dippin-Sauce” – a double entendre ditty about the joys of a nice piece of meat and the need for some …. well, you get the picture.
While the two song examples I’ve mentioned might raise an eyebrow or two, it should be stressed that the Two Man Gentleman Band are “G” rated. (“Gentleman”, remember??) I was reminded of Soupy Sales and Uncle Floyd who could play to audiences of all ages.
It may sound cliche to say that a recording can take you back in time, but in this case it seems to work. Perhaps having the songs created in this century makes the recording sonically pleasing to contemporary sensibilities, but you can feel a palpable connection to the days of the Depression and even earlier – when cheap suit hucksters masquerading as high society would capture the public attention and offer a reprise from the troubles of the day. Come to think of it, perhaps our times are creating a demand for this kind of music once again!
The songs include an ode to William Howard Taft, a love song dedicated to the square root of 2, a badmitton duel, and a declaration that “They Can’t Prohibit Love”!
Bean and Condon are joined by Travis Harrison on percussion (Travis also manages the record label) and and Justin Smith (who at 6’5″ is known as “the tallest fiddler in NYC”) on violin. The arrangements and mix enable the Two Man Gentleman Band to display their skills at capturing the spirit of a musical style that was America’s true “folk music” creation of the 20th century.
If you are high steppin in Gotham, you might catch the boys singing in Central Park or in one of the speakeasy’s that are still in business. We are seeing a renaissance in
New York of this style of music with groups like the Wiyos, The Second Fiddles and the Two Man Gentleman leading the charge.“Heavy Petting” is the third CD from the Two Man Gentleman Band. Considering the wide variety of styles the are inspired by, I am sure we will be hearing more from this group in the years to come
!