Cajun singer Ann Savoy & Her Sleepless Knights turn in another re-creation of French-style acoustic jazz of the mid-20th century on their second album, Black Coffee. The model, of course, is the Hot Club of France, with lead guitarist Tom Mitchell making like Django Reinhardt and fiddler Kevin Wimmer like Stéphane Grappelli. That group didn’t have a vocalist, of course, but here Savoy takes vocal choruses in between the jazz solos with the exuberance and phrasing of Maria Muldaur, though she is more of a straight contralto, lacking Muldaur’s high notes. To add to the effect, she sometimes sings in French, with an accent often more suggestive of Baton Rouge than Paris. It’s all quite pleasant, if in a distinctly retro manner. – William Ruhlmann
more »