King Louis and the Primas, Spiegeltent, Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival

A tribute band of sorts?  The blurb said this was an act dedicated to the music of Louis Prima, but that wasn't really the case.  No trumpeter for a start!  Nevertheless this is a band showcasing the mainstream jazz of the era when Prima was in his prime, the nineteen forties and fifties, and as such offers predictable and kinda comforting fare.

So we got jazz standards like Fever and That Ol' Black Magic, songs that are both old fashioned and perennial.  Musically the band is highly competent, if largely uninspired.  But there were some decent solos, especially from piano and harmonica (played by the wonderful Fraser Spiers, a man we've seen before playing with the late and incomparably great Tam White).  The three front men, who played sax, trombone and that harmonica, took turns to deliver lead vocals.  It was a shame that the singer who took on the role most frequently was also the poorest of the three voices.

But enough carping.  This was more for fun than serious music, and that's what we got.  The band got the audience involved in the singing and clapping along and the tunes were infectiously foot tapping.  An enjoyable hour that did what it said on the tin.