Kermit Ruffins - The Big Butter & Egg Man (1994)

New Orleans of the '90s has two young trumpeters in their 20s, Kermit Ruffins and Nicholas Payton, who resemble the greatest New Orleans trumpeter of them all, Louis Armstrong. Payton, who bears the closest physical resemblance, does the best job of echoing Satchmo's piercing, adventurous jazz solos. Ruffins, whose physical resemblance is less exact, is the heir of Armstrong as pop entertainer--the warm singer, the charming joker, and the tuneful trumpeter. Six of the 10 tracks on Ruffins's second solo album, The Big Butter & Egg Man, are vocal numbers, and it's on those that he bridges the gap between New Orleans jazz of the '20s and New Orleans R&B of the '50s. This is most obvious on "Li'l Liza Jane," an old Dixieland standard which was later recorded by Fats Domino and the Neville Brothers. Ruffins and his two former bandmates in the ReBirth Brass Band--saxophonist Roderick Paulin and tubaist Philip Frazier--get a Dixieland horn arrangement swinging, but the gospel-ish vocals and syncopated dance beat come straight out of R&B. The same approach of sophisticated harmonies, infectious rhythms, and exuberant humor is applied to the old Tin Pan Alley title tune, to Stuff Smith's 1930s marijuana song "If You're a Viper," and to Ruffins's guided tour of his hometown, "I'll Drink Ta Dat." The four instrumentals, featuring music by Armstrong, Ellington, and Ruffins, are perfectly respectable, but it's Ruffins's vocal showcases which separate him from the pack.