Hound’s Tooth by Tin Pan, 2008
Website: Tin Pan Band
Home Base: New York City, NY
Genre: Alternative, Blues, Roots, Americana, Soul, Folk, Bluegrass, Acoustic, Rock, Jazz
Compared To: Louis Armstrong, Tom Waits, Squirrel Nut Zippers
Influenced By: Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, The Beatles, Willie Dixon, Tom Waits
Bio.: Tin Pan connotes a world from the past – the most dominant and enlightened strains of American music of the early part of the 20th century – jazz, blues and American popular song. But it would be a mistake to say that Tin Pan is fixed in that past. Rather, it is music created to be enjoyed profoundly and joyously in the present. The band has created a rabid following by playing music that resonates powerfully because its intention is pure – to make people dance, smile and conjure with the spirit of music itself. On their new album, Hound’s Tooth, the band has perfected their sonic vision – effortless, wondrous and festive, feeling much like, as the band describes themselves, Ray Charles and Tom Waits at a Bourbon Street Parade.
Comprised of Jesse Selengut on trumpet, lead vocals and compositions, Clifton Hyde on guitar and hollerin’, Stefan Zeniuk on reeds and boy soprano vocals, and Peter “Baby Hands” Maness on bass and some singin’, Tin Pan evokes everything from Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong to Irving Berlin and Hoagy Carmichael. Founded in 2006 by Selengut, a long time New York based musician, and the curator of the Williamsburg Jazz Festival, the band sprung from what he calls, “a need for this kind of music.” He elaborates, “As soon as I started playing this music, it just felt so easy and natural. It’s simplicity demands that you be totally committed to it – there’s no hiding behind theory or pose.”
Finding players to fit his vision was challenging, but when Selengut met Mississippi native Clifton Hyde, who has played with Lou Reed, Debbie Harry, Blue Man Group and others, he knew he found the right man. “I auditioned about 25 different guitarists,” Jesse recalls, “and right away I knew Clifton was perfect. He’s experienced with blues and jazz but isn’t constrained by excessive training. And he has an intuitive understanding of what dancers need.” Stefan Zeniuk entered the picture through Clifton, bringing in a touch of the avant-garde to the proceedings. “I’m not even sure Stefan is that interested in jazz. He’s just got incredible energy – (saxophonist) Tim Berne was his babysitter. I think that affected him for life,” says Selengut with a laugh. Bassist Pete “Baby Hands” Maness was chosen because when we discovered that he could slap the bass, spin the bass, and get every girl’s phone number all in the same tune.
Describing themselves as a “street band,” they often play in Central Park and in the New York City transit system. It’s the embodiment of the band’s belief that their music should be accessible – literally and figuratively. With two previous CD releases, Early Jazz and Americana and Alice McNulty, they sold a total of 6000 CD’s in 2008, a phenomenal total for an completely unsigned band, and earned rave notices in the New York Times and Huffington Post, among others.
And the singularity of their sound, coupled with the sheer pleasure of it, has earned the band a multitude of exposure, with some seemingly strange bedfellows. “We played a campaign event for (New York City) Mayor Bloomberg, we’ve played the Guggenheim…and we’ve played supporting for MC Hammer. It’s sort of surreal,” notes Jesse. Playing around 180 shows per year, mainly in New York, the band lives out their commitment to enliven through sharing this music.
On Hound’s Tooth, the band has honed and distilled their music to its most profound essence. Produced by Clifton and Jesse, the recording process is simple: set up the microphones and play. From the opening notes of “If The Sea Was Whiskey,” what you’re hearing are master craftsman recreating Americana anew. Clifton’s guitar meshes perfectly with the stand-up bass, and the horns are by turn mournful and celebratory, triumphant and heartbreaking – the sound of a newly found romance in a late night speakeasy, filled with foreboding passion. Jesse’s vocals, fervent and impassioned, are uniquely his own – he has found a space that encompasses everything from Bessie Smith to Tom Waits.
The band is expanding their reach – they are beginning to tour nationally and have found a place in the enormous swing dancing community. Best Buy has taken Hound’s Tooth into their stores for national distribution. And they’ll be playing the influential venue Joe’s Pub in June – another huge sign that this band has arrived. “We may have been together for three years already,” declares Jesse, “but I feel like it’s all just starting now. The band is playing beautifully. I’ve become more confident as a front man. We’re really starting to grab people and have them in the palm of our hand.” In the coming months, it seems assured that the legend of Tin Pan will only grow, as word of their excellence travels, but even more importantly, from the love with which they play.
My Review: As you may know, Blues music is one of the few musical genre which originated solely in the United States. Blues music was born in the late 1800s and early 1900s from the Afro-American spiritual and the “call and response” work songs of the American South. The word Blues comes from the term “blue devils”. One was said to have the blue devils when they were in a sad or melancholy state. Blues told the story of the hardworking, common, everyday man. The blues’ singer’s voice is usually harsh and raspy, yet soulful, voice of an ordinary person telling their story. This is the past from which Tin Pan has evolved.
Between Selengut’s trumpet, especially when he puts the mute on and Zeniuk’s reed playing, you would swear you were in the 20s or 30s, they blend so well together. One of the best examples of the play between and blending of, reed and horn is “My Life Will Be Sweeter”. Don’t get me wrong, now, Hyde and Maness do a fantastic job on guitar and bass as well, just listen to “Gambler’s Blues”, but its still that mournful trumpet playing and the raspiness of the reeds which meshes so well with the raspiness that is the “trademark” of a blues singer’s voice that really make it a blues band. Oh, Hell, Tin Pan is just a great Blues band, period! Tin Pan’s music has such good “hooks”, you just feel compelled to sing along!
Unfortunately I don’t run into many blues bands, fortunately, however, I found Tin Pan! Tin Pan has got to be one of the best modern days blues bands around! All I want to do when I hear Tin Pan’s music is close my eyes and let it transport me to another era. Gangsters, the depression, prohibition, Elliot Ness! All the things that marked the “roaring twenties”! Blues music always gave me time to reflect on my life, too.
To a great blues band which captures the essence of a bygone era, I give 10 stars and a “thumbs up”!
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