Mr. Smith & the Jazz Police - Jazz with a Twist (2019)

If the music of Mr. Smith & The Jazz Police were a closet, there would probably be only one big drawer, which looks pretty untidy. Someone took out the whole genre-fan and threw everything into a mess ... but music is not a piece of furniture ...

Bandleader and guitarist Martin Schmidt likes the octaves of Wes Montgomery and bluesy licks by Kenny Burrell as much as the twang of Jim Campilongo and Brian Setzer. In the trio with Ingo Deul on drums and Mr. X on bass he plays his own compositions, but also misses songs by Duke Ellington, Elvis, Rodgers & Hart, The Cure, Santo & Farina and obscure Americana finds from the 30s a new one Painting.

This sometimes sounds like a classic guitar-jazz trio, but also touches the Americana sound of Bill Frisell and integrates incidentally guitarist influences from country, surf, blues and rockabilly.