**1/2 Colin James

COLIN JAMES AND THE LITTLE BIG BAND II

(Elektra)

Note that II in the title -- press notes for James's sixth release boast that the Canadian blues-rocker anticipated the current swing craze with his first Little Big Band CD way back in 1993. Okay, so James is no more an opportunist than, say, Brian Setzer. But what makes the album sound fresh is James's expansive approach to the narrowly defined genre of jump blues. He's unearthed some obscure gems (Daddy Cleanhead's "Somethin's Goin' On in My Room," Memphis Slim's "I'm Lost Without You," Jimmy Wilson's "Jumpin' from Six to Six"), many by artists (Ray Charles, Willie Dixon, Jackie Wilson) whose connection to jump blues is tenuous at best. James's two originals, "Rocket to the Moon" and "Triple Shot," mesh effortlessly with the relics. Although James's vocals are earnest, his growling blues guitar fills give adrenalized updates to arrangements dominated by the close-harmony brass section. And the band prove stop-on-a-dime tight on such rhythmically tricky numbers as Charles's "Mary Ann" and Cab Calloway's "C'mon with the C'mon."

-- Gary Susman