Barbara Dane - What Are You Gonna Do When There Ain't No Jazz? (2002)

This is Barbara's mature hot jazz-blues best, recorded in New Orleans (1988) and in Berkeley (2000). Three revered veterans of the San Francisco '50s jazz revival play on both sessions: Bob Mielke (trombone), Richard Hadlock (soprano & alto sax) and Pete Allen (bass). Two brilliant younger players, Clint Baker (guitar) and Marc Caparone (trumpet) animate the California session. The piano chair is shared by two of the greatest in traditional jazz: Ray Skjelbred and Butch Thompson (of Prairie Home Companion fame). There’s a rich mixture of classics like Jelly Bean Blues and Black Eye Blues, prohibition-era tunes like the title song and Irving Berlin's "See you in C-U-B-A," Barbara’s original “Blues for the Old Timer” dedicated to the elders who have inspired her, Yip Harburg's beloved "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?", and Fats Waller's "How Can You Face Me Now?", all delivered with a subtext that comments on life in today's uneasy world.

Tracklist:

01. The World's Jazz Crazy
02. Jelly Bean Blues
03. Ain't Nobody Got The Blues Like Me
04. Black-Eye Blues
05. Pinchbacks, Take 'em Away
06. Besame Mucho
07. How Can You Face Me Now
08. Blues For The Old Timer
09. Brother, Can You Spare A Dime
10. Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do
11. Street Walker's Blues
12. I'll See You In C-U-B-A
13. My Melancholy Baby
14. What Are You Gonna Do When There Ain't No Jazz