Combo De La Muerte is one of the best tribute bands that I heard. Their myspace says that they are from Italy and that they play voodoo latin jazz music and that is actually the best definition of their style. Lot of Latina rhythms and percussion, lot of jungle voodoo vibe and small jazz and world music influence. As for the covers the selection is awesome. Their best one in my opinion is the South Of Heaven, by famous thrash metal band Slayer. This evil and dark song was transformed into a beach-party vibe groovy piece. As for the other highlights the Hawaiian styled version of Ozzy Osbournes Mama I’m Coming Home and Brazilian styled Highway To Hell by AC/DC are definitely worth listening.

Rumor says that Doug was a Berklee College of Music graduate that ended up working in Crush Management (who are working with Decaydance). Doug was not afraid of showing his talent and playing some songs right during coffee breaks. The boss of the label Bob McLynn, was annoyed at first, but then understood that Doug is a very promising guy. He gave him a green light and the result is an album of classy jazz covers of radio hits by Decaydance artists. The best thing about the album is that it has a great musical part. Dougs vocals and guitars are backed by a full jazz band with orchestration and other stuff. It sounds great and it is definitely a must have for any Decaydance fan.

Her last album – Irgendwo auf der Welt, is a step away from the punk past to a swing-jazz future. The whole album is filled with good old hits like Summertime, Bei mir bist du schen and Deep in a Dream. While Nina was not always praised for her music, her voice was always spectacular and this album proves it. The German language hits are reminiscent of the pre-war cabaret era and the English ones (sung with this cool German accent) remind of the glorious times when jazz and swing ruled the earth.

Marcus Miller, the next great bass player in jazz, played on over 500 albums, has numerous solo works and albums with different bands. Influenced a whole generation of players, worked with Miles Davis, David Sanborn and Luther Vandross.

Victor Wooten, the last but not the least, Bass Player of the Year three times in a row, technical virtuoso, six solo albums and a dozen more with the spectacular Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Technical virtuoso representing the last great generation of bass players.

S.M.V. is a collaboration of Stanley Clark, Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten, a dream of thousands of jazz fans came true.

Bit similar to Mad Marge and the Stonecutters but totally different. While both of these chix take most of their influence from good old rockabilly Marge is more about punk and Imelda is totally about jazz. So it can be best described as swing/jazzabilly. Of course we still have the female hot rod rockabilly vocals but big part of the record is still very jazzy.

Love Tattoo is a definitely my personal hit of the summer. It has the raw rock power and calm cocktail jazz bit of unmixable but almost all the songs are hits. While my personal two favorites are Smokers Song and Love Tattoo I still like the clicking upright bass in Johny Got A Boom Boom and gentle melodies of Knock 123 and Meet You At The Moon. The rest of the record is pure rockabilly nothing exceptional just keeping you in the mood between the top tracks.

Actually this is not an independent artist.

But she’s definitely hot! Her music is a mix of soul, jazz and some 50 music that can’t be really classified. Yeah and also she has a nice British twist.

The best thing about Amy is her voice, it sounds like the voice of more experienced singers like Macy Gray but Amy was born in 83. My god first time I heard her I thought she was singing for like 20 years or more.

Well the best thing about her as for me is the image. She’s rude, tattooed and is not exactly the perfect image of a jazz singer. Her lyrics remind me of the rude old black jazz but with more modern approach. Strange cause she comes from a an English-Jewish family with a history of jazz musicians, already professionally singing at 16 debut album “Frank” released in 2003 and latest album “Back To Black” in 2006. Both of these albums are spectacular!

But this part won’t be about the history it will be about one of the most interesting thing that came out of it. A New Orleans Jazz Funeral! Even if you’ve never been to NOLA you can see one of that in James Bond “Live and Let Die”. An old tradition that was later almost banned by the catholic church and is practiced now only by black protestants.

The procession is divided into two parts. First part is walk to the funeral when the marching jazz band performs slow and tragic jazz part (mostly the gospel song “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”) like saying goodbye to the deceased. The Second Part or also called the Second Line is walking away from the graveyard. In the Second Line the melody is changed to hot jazz, symbolizing a joy of the fact that the deceased now joined “A Better Life”.

Actually this is one of the most interesting traditions that I ever encountered.

The Ditty Bops are two girls Amanda Barrett and Abby DeWald and the band is a mystery from the beginning. These two were on a search for a lost cat as they stumbled upon a backyard of a stranger who was a musician and a guitar collector. He encouraged them to form a band. Not even a band, an adventure that never ends. They sometimes add a little bit of theatre to their shows and the last tour was a cross country on bicycles!

As for the music it’s even more interesting that the outfits and ideas. Ditty Bops are a mix of country, cabaret, saloon and a huge part of the so called western swing. The have extraordinary melodies, nice female vocals, a vide range of string instruments like banjo and mandolin. The lyrics are smart and interesting, a combination of simple words that makes a huge meaning. But still the main thing is the feeling, they have nice groove and have really something more than a casual swing or country band.

Hellyeah these dudes can bring some.

Formed in 1989 but not reaching success till 1994 with a major breakthrough in The Mask. Yeah these are the dudes that played the song that Jim Carrey was dancing to. This song can be found on their 1991 debut album Kings of Gangster Bop a true pearl of the retro-swing movement of the 90th.

But still one album is not the reason why these guys are great. The next six plates present awesome groovy swing that gives you a good retro mood or a dancing vibe. Can’t even tell which one is the best. So if the evening is dull just get one of their plates and turn your place into the Coco Bango club!