I’m not sure if New Orleans has reached peak neo-trad yet, but each new release I hear indicates that the music created a century ago still offers a lot for younger musicians to explore. The Secret Six is a side project led by bassist John Joyce of the Smoking Time Jazz Club. The album features members of that project as well as vocalist Meschiya Lake and other musicians from the tightly-knit Frenchmen Street scene.

Given the extremely limited parameters of the pandemic, this album was actually recorded outdoors by the well-regarded producer/engineer Earl Scioneaux III. Yet it is virtually impossible to tell this, based on the ace musicianship and his pristine recording technique. The instrumentation is so clearly delineated; I was almost hoping to hear a bird chirp or a passing truck.

Part of the inspiration for the group’s name comes from famed abolitionist John Brown and his “Secret Committee of Six” from 1859—fitting given that the album was recorded following the massive protests after the police murder of George Floyd. Of course, the core group is six musicians.

The tunes on the album include classics from the canon including Danny Barker’s “Ham and Eggs,” George Lewis’s “Burgundy Street Blues” and Louis Armstrong’s “Potato Head Blues.” There are also more obscure cuts like “Bye Bye Blues” credited to F. Hamm from 1925 and sung with great aplomb by trombonist Russell Ramirez, as drummer Mike Voelker channels his inner Washboard Chaz (or perhaps Tuba Skinny’s Robin Rapuzzi) with a killer washboard solo.

The musicianship here is absolutely stellar. Banjoist Hunter Burgamy shines. Four tracks feature Jory Woodis on clarinet and on three of them he pairs beautifully with saxophonist James Evans, particularly on King Oliver’s “Canal Street Blues.” Trumpeter Reid Poole and Joyce are solid throughout and of course, Meschiya is Meschiya.

Grab this album if you want to be uplifted by timeless good-time music created by a band dedicated to presenting it unfiltered through a unique lens.