Will all of you who think that Vavavoom is a cool name for a band please raise your right hand?

It’s my theory that everyone loves the music, clothing, and other stylings that their grandparents liked, but similar material from their parents’ generation is not nearly as popular. Think of retro furniture, for example. It’s the styles of the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s that are really trendy, and there isn’t the same interest in what was hot two or three decades back.

So here is this band playing ’30s style music, and it’s no surprise that they’ve been creating a stir on Frenchmen Street. Some of the members are known (Bart Ramsey on piano and accordion, Neti Vaan on violin, Jack Fine on cornet, Spike Perkins on bass) some of them not so well known (I won’t say whom because you may know them), and they’re all solid professionals who know what they’re doing. Melomania is music they identify as New Orleans gypsy jazz, music that seems to hark back to the 1930s sound of the Hot Club of France, and it’s not surprising to find two tunes by gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt as part of the band’s repertoire.

There is a strong European flavor to this music, so if you like that kind of thing (and a lot of New Orleans people do) this group is probably for you. Three of the cuts—“Dark Eyes,” “Black Orpheus” and “La Vie En Rose”—are sung in French. Since brand new lyrics to the first two of these were written by members of the band, it would have been logical to provide English translations in the liner notes. This unfortunately, was not done, but certainly could be added in future editions.

While you definitely get the sound of the band on this CD, it was recorded not long after Vavavoom organized, and it’s my feeling that the band has been playing a lot better since. While the material is interesting, the solos are professionally competent but generally rather flat. It seems as though a lot more attention was being paid to form than substance, and it shows. I’ll be keeping my eye out for their next offering, but if you’d like to get in on the ground floor, so to speak, get out and catch Vavavoom in person—assuming, of course, that they keep that name.

And thank you sir, you can put your hand down now.