The Love Dogs

NEW TRICKS

(Tone-Cool)

New England is hardly foreign territory to high-voltage, horn-driven jump-blues ensembles. Roomful of Blues sprang forth nearly 25 years ago and started kicking some brass. And these days, Boston’s Love Dogs use a four-piece saxophone section as the foundation for some tightly knit, uptempo blues-drenched dance material. The straightforward jump sounds include originals as well as Tiny Bradshaw’s “Well Oh Well,” but the Dogs’ third CD ?nds them chasing several other soulful musical strains. “Northbound Train” recalls greasy ’70s funk à la Tower of Power; other cuts touch on gospel, zydeco, and classic Ray Charles rhythm & blues.

Ed Scheer’s powerful voice punches through the horns and the heavy bottom created by drummer Steve Brown and bassist Jesse Williams, especially on the set-opening “Don’t Bug Me.” On the eerie, rumbling “Long, Long Day,” the horns (played by Myanna, Mario Perrett, Bruce McGrath, and Steve Brown on various saxes) creak and whistle like an empty barn in a windstorm. And though it shows up only in ?ashes on New Tricks, humor is an essential component in the jump tradition — just listen as pianist Alizon Lissance delivers the vocals on the cautionary tale “Richest Guy in the Graveyard.

-- Bill Kisliuk