The occasional YouTube roundup

I made another pass through the land of YouTube for “SJI” versions this past weekend. Wallowing in these “grass roots” takes is always a mixed affair: One thing the video-web “democratizes” is bad audio quality and camera work documenting the forgettable, forever. But I’ve narrowed it down to the more interesting stuff for you, because that’s my function as the world’s leading “SJI” blogger. So here’s what we have.

This is an outfit called the Jake Leg Stompers. According to their site, they “present Pre-War Roots Music on period instruments in lively, authentic styles. Drawing on decades of historical research, the Jake Leg Stompers design their musical arrangements not simply to replicate old sonorities, but to evoke the very moods and atmospheres of musical experience before the dawn of the Second World War.”

I’m not really familiar with this group, but I sure enjoyed poking around their site. It looks like they’re not kidding about the research. From what I gather, they play on period instruments, and even their name has an interesting origin: “Jake Leg” was apparently the name given to paralysis caused by drinking a Jamaican ginger extract patent medicine called “jake.” The band covered “SJI” on one of its CDs, and I think I’m going to buy it, so more on that later.

This YouTube video is not a very high-quality affair, but I believe that one of the musicians is coaxing the nice spooky sound at the beginning out of a saw.

This one-minute clip is here more for curiosity value than anything else. It has Lionel Batiste joining a local band to sing “SJI” at a New Orleans club. We used to see Batiste around in our N.O. days, he’s a local institution. This clip both starts and ends mid-tune.

And finally, here is an outfit called Club 7, described as “a new Trad Jazz group,” doing their take on “SJI” aat the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee. A fine instrumental version.