Record reviews

Excerpt from:

Acoustic alchemy:
Westcott Jug Suckers and Zingology
each release dynamite discs

By Russ Tarby 

Ithaca painter Brian Keeler is one of the most accomplished visual artists in Upstate New York. He’s also a gifted guitarist and an accomplished jitterbugger who has blended those two musical passions into a buoyant dance band.

His swingin’ septet, Zingology, has issued its second compact disc, this one a 12-track set called On the Boulevard.

Inspired by the 1930s and’40s music of Roma guitarist Django Reinhardt, Zingology features Keeler on guitar, Ted Caldwell on upright bass, Brian Earle on clarinet, Greg Ezra on drums, Art Godin and Wayne Gottleib on guitar and Joanna Green on violin.

The Django Reinhardt tunes they cover are the instrumentals “Douce Ambiance,” “Minor Blues” and “Hungaria.”

While those non-vocal tunes let soloists such as the venerable clarinetist Brian Earle, a chance to stand out, the band’s two singers breathe new life into other more familiar songs. Wayne Gottlieb croons “Bei Mir Bist du Schon,” “Black Orpheus” and “I’ll See You in my Dreams.”

 Meanwhile, fiddler Joanna Green performs “Exactly Like You,” “The Man I Love,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “What is This Thing Called Love?” and “Pennies From Heaven.” Pennies may be made from copper, but Zingology turns it all into gold!

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Zingology will perform at a September Soiree from 4 to 7 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 10, at the North Star Art Gallery, 743 Snyder Hill Road in Ithaca. Musician Kurt Lichtmann will perform humorous Italian folk songs from 6 to 6:30 p.m.; 607- 323-7684; northstarartgallery.com.