Review: Muldaur, Tuba Skinny go roarin' back to the '20s and the Dixieland era

May 11—Let's Get Happy Together

Maria Muldaur and Tuba Skinny. Stony Plain Records.

Forty-eight years ago, singer Maria Muldaur had one of the hit sensations on radio airwaves, a 1973 pop song called "Midnight at the Oasis."

Good thing she didn't stop there.

Many people don't know this about her, but she went on to receive six Grammy nominations and round out her 57-plus year career by recording albums in the folk, blues, early jazz, gospel, country, and rhythm and blues genres.

A one-hit wonder?

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Hardly. She's released 43 albums, and now — at age 77 — is dubbed the "First Lady of Roots Music."

On this album, released last Friday, the one-time pop singer shows even more versatility on an album that — while not unprecedented — is a real charmer. It's a throwback to the innocent-yet-bawdy 1920s/1930s musical era with New Orleans street band Tuba Skinny doing an excellent job of recreating Dixieland, blues, jazz, and other musical styles with foot-stompin' tempos.

Locally, this is the kind of album one could expect from Toledo's iconic Cakewalkin' Jass Band. It also has a sound familiar to followers of New Orleans' famous Preservation Hall Jazz Band. But like a lot of great New Orleans street bands, the sound is a little more loosely knit and ebullient.

It's infectious. And it's really hard being depressed or gloomy listening to joyful sounds like these.

Muldaur blends in seamlessly, showing us what a pro she is. She became enthralled with Tuba Skinny's sound in an unlikely place, a couple of years ago while shopping at a favorite clothing store in Woodstock, N.Y. The shop owner informed her they were listening to compact discs recorded by Tuba Skinny, which has some young band members hailing from the Woodstock area.

Then, in January, 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic forced stay-at-home orders throughout the United States, Muldaur asked Tuba Skinny to collaborate with her at the International Folk Alliance Conference in New Orleans. That was the impetus for this album, recorded later that year.

The 12 songs featured on this disc are from that near-forgotten era, with a breath of fresh air in them. It's a lot of knee-slappin', toe-tappin' fun.