The Akron Beacon Journal

DUKES ARE A WAIL OF A BAND

NO LACK OF HIPNESS WITH THIS 'JUMP BLUES' OUTFIT, WHICH CAN SWING WITH THE BEST OF THEM

Sunday, February 6, 2000
Glenn Gamboa

The Dukes of Wail are one of Northeast Ohio's great little secrets.

The seven-piece band plays the kind of "jump blues" you normally have to travel to Chicago or New Orleans to hear done right. The Dukes of Wail, who used to be known as Jump Jive and Wail, aren't Johnny-come-latelies jumping on the swing bandwagon.

The group features the smooth vocals of Dennis DeSapri, who was a back-up singer for Chubby Checker and has sung with the legendary Sam Butera, and the great piano player Joe Hunter, who has played with everyone from Tito Puente to Ernie Krivda to alt-rockers Nation of One. The Dukes are great musicians with a sense of style and polish that comes only after years of performing.

The new CD No Turning Back captures the good-time swagger and decked-out cool of the band's live show.

The group is DeSapri, Hunter, guitarist Don Better, saxophonists Dick Ingersoll and Chris Burge, drummer Tommy Edwards and bassist Mark Better. They move easily from originals like the title track and the playful Her Daddy's House to standards like Louis Jordan's Early in the Morning. Even the cover of Louis Prima's Jump Jive and Wail works, despite being overexposed through the whole Brian Setzer Gap commercial extravaganza.

No Turning Back is good, but nothing compares to the band's live show, which is perfect, by the way, for silencing your snooty relatives who lament the lack of hipness in the area.

The Dukes of Wail's CD release party at the Blind Pig, 1261 W. Sixth St., Cleveland, is at 8 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $5. For more information, call 216-621-0001.