Hot Sugar Band - Swing For Dancers (2012)

“Are you in shape?” is certainly a question that will be answered after dancing through the Hot Sugar Band’s debut album, Swing For Dancers. On that album the Parisian band ran through a variety of classic tracks by Django Reinhardt, Fats Waller, and Count Basie, keeping pretty much everything up-tempo and full of energy. It was exhausting and thrilling, but perhaps in the best possible way. On their second album “are you in shape?” seems to be posed in the title with a reference to the longer tracklisting, which boasts some 17 tracks (or 18 if you count the hidden track). Are You In Shape? is a longer journey, but the Hot Sugar Band also offer a greater variety of tempos, providing takes on a few swing classics while also taking on some more obscure numbers.
Unsurprisingly though, Are You In Shape? hits best when it’s swinging fast. It’s fastest tracks – “Beethoven Riffs On,” “Zooming at the Zombie” – are almost too high-energy and speedy to take in properly with just one listen, requiring repeated spins to appreciate fully. The former track weaves about, virtuosic as the title might suggest, but not without a sense of humour, most notably when the band stops and Malo Mazurié’s trumpet honks like a farmyard animal. Their take on some of the most famous swing tracks are definite high points too. They slow down Jimmie Lunceford’s “Whamm!!!” to just the right tempo so as to allow some air through song while their take on Lucky Millinder’s “Savoy” arguably outdoes the original, if not just for its tidiness and clarity (but without compromising on the rollicking final section).

Elsewhere Mano Razanajato’s bowed bass vocals bring to mind Slam Stewart on the Django Reinhardt cut “At The Jimmy’s Bar” before Vincent Simonelli’s nimble guitar works comes into play, while the few introductory piano notes of “I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me” are just as exciting and full of possibility as all those that follow. But on Are You In Shape? the band also show off their slower range too, allowing for each musician to really express the voice they bring to their instrument. Their take on Duke Ellington’s “East St. Louis Toodle-oo” finds the absolute perfect tempo, not allowing the track to be swallowed by the darker, minor key sections. Mazurié’s trumpet wails and sounds gorgeously tinged in both light and dark. When they slow right down for “St. James Infirmary” each player bellows and yearns like the cut was their last take ever, while the fittingly sweet texture of swept drums and baritone sax on “Sugar” makes it a delight to listen to every time.

Not every cut hits perfectly, like “Cavalerie” which is a little too virtuosic and meandering for its own liking while “Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?” seems absent of real feeling and longing, a track of fairly little consequence compared to the urgency of all those surrounding it. But with such a generous tracklisting on Are You In Shape?, these missteps are mostly easy to pass by. Are You In Shape? is the Hot Sugar band opening themselves up, trying out new styles , tones, and approaches. Seven of the tracks here offer vocals to the mix while the tempo range goes from 68 to 270bpm, which goes far beyond the range on Swing For Dancers. Are You In Shape? offers a plentiful amount of tracks to the band’s already hugely enjoyable catalogue, and it remains little mystery why they are the most sought after band on the swing dance circuit.