Dot Dot Dot

The Coolest Car Chaise Lounge's most requested song. Jazz, cars and true love: What could be more American than that? Let's Face The Music and Dance An Irving Berlin gem that is rarely covered. The band plays it straight and beautifully. And, wisely, they let the song and the arrangement carry the performance, exploring the art-yes the art-of the two-beat. The Best Part of My Losing Streak Gary Gregg is the direct heir to the crown once worn by Sam Butera. His searing Las Vegas sound on this instrumental number is as authentic as it gets. Crowds go wild for this one. Infants speak; strong men weep: the works. I Just Want All of My Stuff Marilyn Older's ability to deadpan her way through this paean to hardboiled divorce demands is hysterical. The soli section with Gary on clarinet and Joe Jackson on trombone is the most joyful 32 bars a gay divorce could hope for. Dot Dot Dot There are vocalists who sing in other languages, but rarely do you hear a girl swing in Morse code. Marilyn sails through this grooving ensemble piece about navigating life's choppy waters. It's Always You Part gospel tune, part singer-songwriter ballad, this song defies categorization. Tommy's groove with Pete Ostle is insistent and funky, the horn lines are as hip as can be, and the melody is an ear-worm. Be warned: This song will stick with you all day long. I'm Always Waiting on You An original number straight from the Jazz Age. Check out Charlie Barnett's tenor banjo and Tommy's rhythmic nod to Baby Dodds. Even the song itself is a tip of the hat to the songs of Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. Seor Hueso In this instrumental trombone feature, Joe has all the power and high chops of a lead 'bone player and an astonishing amount of improvisatory prowess. The groove is a throwback to 1960's (This is Chaise Lounge after all). Little Blue Man We are in a coffee house. We are wearing berets. We are snapping our fingers. Is this an allegory? Is this commentary? Don't worry so much. Just chill, man. Via Con Me Paulo Conte's dreamy classic, delivered with panache. Cool When you start an album with a song called Cool, the hip gauntlet has effectively been thrown. And like a groovy young Lochinvar, Chaise Lounge is up to the challenge. The middle blowing section is a strange and wonderful fantasy on the West Side Story classic. And of course Marilyn Older's voice couldn't be cooler. Bernstein/Sondheim. Split in Two (Wreckage) Marilyn Older somehow manages to take this brutally sad song and deliver it with tenderness and compassion. She has an innate ability to find the humanist core of each song she sings. It is a gift few vocalists have. Old Man River The classic Jerome Kern tune played at a near-impossible tempo. This is a feature for Tommy Barrick. Look out! Jerome Kern/ All songs by Charlie Barnett/Big Kahuna Music BMI, except Let's Face the Music and Dance by Irving Berlin/Irving Berlin Music Corp. ASCAP and Via Con Me by Paolo Conte/BMG Ricordi Music Publishing SPA.