Artist: The Titillators
Songs: Prelude to a Kiss [composer: Duke Ellington] + Cotton Tail [composer: Duke Ellington] + Midnight Sun [composers: Lionel Hampton and Sonny Burke]
Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), July 22, 2018.
The Titillators - Prelude to a Kiss
The Titillators - Midnight Sun
A historic occasion on the debut of this new combo convened by Ryan Driver, here on street sweeper bristle bass and flanked by Tania Gill (synth), Thom Gill (synth, whistling). The ensemble was completed by Germaine Liu and Phil Melanson, who were seated at a blanket full of miscellaneous percussive items (including happy apple, toy piano, wood block, bowl of water, metal bowls, rattles, miso soup, trowels, chopsticks and so forth), making it look like they were on an especially whimsical picnic. (D. Alex Meeks sat in for the second set, adding even more small taps and crunches.)
This was a sure antidote for anyone feeling like they arrived too late for first-hand witnessing of classic Rat-Drifting-style high-concept oddness, with the sound here being a sort of fractured take on novelty jazz, or a really "out" Spike Jones cover band. (In any case, the repertoire surveyed at this show included plenty Ellington and other standards.) If that sounds too high concept, just imagine these tunes serving as background fodder for the sort of Muppet Show sketch that would end with Crazy Happy pressing his plunger and blowing up the whole thing. That said, as off-kilter as the whole thing is, this is delicate and lovely music (that isn't superbly captured by my recordings) so you shouldn't miss an opportunity to get titillated.
[The Titillators' historic third performance is happening tonight (September 15th) at The Tranzac.]
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