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Mora's Modern Rhythmists
Mr. Rhythmist Goes To Town

Very few bands on the modern swing circuit can boast anything more extravagant than seven members, much less admit to playing real "swing" rather than souped-up jump blues with a heavy rock backbeat. those that can are frequently cursed with recorded material sounding like a roomful of tired old musicians playing stock arrangelents of the classic tunes everybody knows, with the enthusiasm one might experience standing in line at the DMV. Well, a new window just opened for service, and whose face should appear but the smiling visage of Dean Mora! Mora's Modern Rhythmists' sophomore release, Mr. Rhythmist Goes To Town, is packed to the gills with 21 smoking arrangements of early swing-era gems that less-experienced listeners may find unfamiliar but are just as danceable as the better-known standards. Dancers and recreational swing enthusiasts alike will find it difficult to ignore the intensity and fervor with which these cats beat out finger-poppin', toe-tappin' numbers orginally composed and aranged between 1931 and 1936.

 ATOMIC AUDIO

Hear Samples of
Mr. Rhythmist
Goes To Town

Blue Minor
Chant The Weed
The Mayor of Alabam'
Georgia Jubilee

(Requires Windows Media)

Visit the band at www.morasmodern.com

From the opening number, Benny Goodman and Arthur Schutt's jumping "Georgia Jubilee," which features rolling melodies, sweet clarinet and muted cornet solos, to the closing scorcher, "Night Ride," recorded live at L.A.'s historic Orpheum Theater, this disc is made up primarily of instrumental delicacies. Standouts include "Blue Minor," "Mr. Ghost goes To Town," "Chant of the Weed," the blazing "Jungle Jazz," and "Dancing with a Debutante." But the album also contains several vocal tracks featuring band members Joh Reynolds (guitar) and Jim Ziegler (trumpet/cornet) exercising their windpipes, as well as featured vocalist Kayre Morrison and Dean himself. Particuarly entertaining is "The Mayor of Alabam'," which goes straight for the funny bone with its witty repartee between Ms. Morrison and Mr. Zeigler as she disputes his claim to the title of "the swingin' king of jam." (No, you ain't – Oh, yes I am!)

Dean claims he has harbored a passion for the msuic of the 1920s and '30s since seeing the movie The Sting at age eleven, which explains why Mr. Rhythmist Goes To Town is so heavily seasoned with the staccato rhythms, complex percussion, and intricate melodies, and occasionally blazing tempos typical of hot jazz and early orchestral swing. For fans of the Tin Pan alley sound, early Chick Webb, Fletcher Henderson, or Glen Gray and his Casa Loma Orchestra, this disc is an absolute must-have. Check out Mora's modern Rhythmists at your own rick, but be forewarned: This band swings with enough pep, vim and verve to whip the gang at the DMV into a frenzy!

- Chad "DJ Chops" Kincaid



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