The great classic jazz singer
Banu Gibson is heard for the first time with her regular group (the New Orleans Hot Jazz Orchestra), on this Stomp Off LP. Although the group would improve (and swing a lot harder) when eventually the tuba player was replaced by a string bassist, this is an excellent outing.
Gibson brings a real understanding to the veteran standards and sounds quite spirited and creative within the idiom on such songs as "Down in Honky Tonk Town," "Changes," "Sweet Man" and "Rose of Washington Square." With fine solos contributed by cornetist Charles Fardella, trombonist
Steve Yocum and pianist
David Boeddinghaus (the group did not have a clarinetist yet), this was a major first step for
Banu Gibson, who would soon be at the top of her field.