Seva Venet has been an active side man on the New Orleans trad scene for about five years now with a pleasantly recognizable sound of his own on banjo and steel guitar, the latter of which he often plays with a “Hawaiian” style slide. It’s refreshing to find that he has been able to utilize his individuality to give a full fledged New Orleans jazz band a distinctively personal touch. This proves to be true even though for the most part the band is playing well known standards.

The CD begins with a string band like version of “Fidgety Feet” that starts with solos by Venet and Matt Rhody, who then join in a violin and steel guitar duet. As the cut continues, however, a line of horn choruses beginning with Charlie Fardella’s growling trumpet let us know this is no gypsy jazz aggregation. There’s more of a familiar, old fashioned trad sound on Jelly Roll Morton’s “Dr. Jazz,” and the mood is maintained on the next cut, Freddie Keppard’s “Here Comes the Hot Tamale Man.” Venet’s original “Mens Working” is up next, “Mens” referring to the way Preservation Hall old timers used to identify themselves. As we get further into the music, we start to realize that this band is not only hot in the traditional sense, but one that provides some extremely swinging ensemble work. In fact, every ensemble chorus on the disc is first rate.

Whether you go for the string band sound or not, this disc goes a long way in demonstrating how some unique musicianship can be incorporated into the traditional New Orleans style of playing, particularly if you’ve got a group of really solid and compatible musicians. And that bodes well for what lies ahead for trad jazz in the years to come. Just because you know the tunes doesn’t mean they need to be boring.