Steve Pistorius and The Mahogany Hall Stompers - 'Taint No Sin (1990)

It does not matter whether you catch Steve Pistorius playing an upright piano on a riverboat in New Orleans or playing grand piano on tour with Dr. Michael White and his Original Liberty Street Jazz Band, the man is going to take you back to the times of Jelly Roll Morton and the days of Dixieland. He's got a feel for the music -- he lives it, he breathes it, he plays it. This CD, with his own Mahogany Hall Stompers, is no exception. The listener will be transported across time and space and set down in a bygone era when life, but not music, was less complicated. The title cut opens the set and the band gets rolling with "T'Ain't No Sin"; the sin that it ain't is the need to dance in your bones. The good humor, zany lyrics, and virtuosity of the piano playing strike the ear in a refreshing way. This is fun -- good, clean fun. Or is it? Things get a bit more obliquely risqué with songs like Scott Black's "Save It Pretty Mama" and "There's No Maybe in My Baby's Eyes." Jelly Roll Morton's spirit is in attendance with "Original Jelly Roll Morton Blues" and "Don't You Leave Me Here." The band has some fun with "Alcoholic Blues" and "Drop That Sack." The band goes out in style with "New Orleans Wiggle." You'll feel loose after this one.