Look-Ka Py Py Podcast (ep 23): Smoking Time Jazz Club, Hot Steppin’

Without question jazz stands as America’s most significant musical contribution, an emerging music form born in the freewheeling streets of New Orleans, brought to life in the spirit of improvisation — its evolution, a series of revolutions and its sound, today, more often scrutinized than subtly appreciated. But in the streets of the Crescent City, a resurgent movement indebted to its esteemed forefathers has begun to take shape. Smoking Time Jazz Club, Royal Street, podcast, photoAt its center lies groups as the Smoking Time Jazz Club, a larger ensemble rooted in the polyphony and collective exploration found in the form’s early dawn and a time before tradition begot Tradition. In this week’s episode of OffBeat’s Look-Ka Py Py Podcast, the band’s bassist John Joyce and clarinetist Jimbino Vegan discuss the making of their latest album Oh Sister Ain’t That Hot!, their post-modern approach to traditional jazz, which has as much to do with the music as it does with their connection to their onlookers as well as each other, and why, for them, there’s no substitue for swinging in the street.