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Bluer Than Blue: Celebrating Lil Hardin Armstrong on CD

"Thoroughly modern," a phrase to describe Lillian Hardin Armstrong, the woman and her music, and to describe Bluer Than Blue, Caili O'Doherty's loving tribute that will ensure Hardin's memory is not forgotten. O'Doherty is equally interested in bringing Lil's compositions into the 21st century, re-harmonizing the original chord changes and even changing up the meter of certain songs to show how these works-most written 80 to 90 years ago-can still sound contemporary in the right hands. Bluer Than Blue really does run the gamut of jazz history, from O'Doherty's stomping two-fisted stride playing on "Barbecue" (complete with nod to Louis, quoting a lick he originally played on "Tears"-co-written with Hardin-and later immortalized on "Potato Head Blues") to the infectious swing of "Clip Joint" to the daring scat escapades of vocalists Tahira Clayton and Michael Mayo to the earthy, modern, tough tenor playing of Nicole Glover. The rhythm section of O'Doherty, bassist Tamir Shmerling, and drummer Cory Cox shows great elasticity from track to track, nailing all of the intricacies of O'Doherty's arrangements. (Ricky Riccardi, Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong House Museum)