The Jump'n Jukes ~ Bottoms up Boogie

The Jump'n Jukes are one of the top, jump/blues bands out of Atlanta. Their first CD "Bottoms Up Boogie" is a provocative offering of original Blues, delivered in a traditional format. They have truly captured the raw energy and the authentic tones they covet so dearly. Singer/harpist Steve Sams, displays his devotion to the early roots of swingin' jump blues. The harp tone that melts from his vintage Kalamazoo tube amp, echoes the era of Little Walter, Junior Wells and Paul Butterfield. Thank you Steve for not over playing ( a mistake many less tasteful players make), your gracious restraint proves bluesfuly apropo and your gritty vocals tell it like it is. However, the master of "right and tight" is Bass man Mark McCoy. This seasoned player keeps it simple and strong (every blues guitarists dream). McCoy is the most unpretentious bass player in the blues, since Willie Dixon... Drums are locked in and groovin', employing nice, effective dynamics. Many of the highlights of this wonderful CD generate from J Saily (world renown guitarist from Finland). J's impeccable fat body guitar tone, combines elements of Jazz and Blues, while expertly morphing blues riffs into jazz melody. Over all, the musical prowess and period portrayal of Jump Blues here, is remarkable.

Starting off with the traditional READ ABOUT MY BABY gives the listener a big serving of authentic sounding Blues. J sounds like Jimmie Vaughan playing through Duke Robillard's rig. The title cut BOTTOMS UP BOOGIE features an awesome fiddle solo, reminiscent of Stephane' Grappelli. SO CUTE maintains Steve's safe vocal style and standard lyrical content yet, still entertains with authentic, vintage sound and feel provided by killer sax track. Next is an instrumental JAN-JAN by J, featuring a great vibrato guitar melody. His organ track adds a nice effect but, his guitar tone steals the show on this one. A ripping guitar solo would have nailed it. WIPE IT OFF is a fun rocker. What it lacks in clever lyrics, gets across with enough inuendo to entertain the simplest listener. I CAN TELL is an old Bo Diddley standard, done here with respect and integrity. Engineer extraordinaire, Paul Diffin, really shines on the vocal production he's mixed on this cut. His production on this CD certainly lives up to his excellent reputation for capturing that quality vintage sound. JUMP LITTLE BABY is one of the bands more popular live numbers and features J's signature guitar solo, one that shines with tone, melody and style. You couldn't ask for a more solid rhythm section. FINGER LICKIN' is another crowd fave, joining in on the call and answer and on the dance floor. J's fingers are doing the Lickin' on this song with authentic, big box, jump guitar throughout. Roots rockin DON'T KEEP ME WAITING keeps the momentum up. Finally J breaks it out on his original, rockin instrumental, BLUES FOR IRASEMA. Steve and J work out, trading high-power solos with attack and attitude. Things are loosening up now with natural energy driving this rockin shuffle NO MORE DOGGIN'. The obvious theme song for this band is the Rockabilly anthem JUKE TIME. Saily and McCoy wrote this fun song, ironically with Paul on Bass. Lastly, DOIN' THE BEST I CAN. Straight out of deep, central Georgia. Echoes of 3o's juke joint slide guitar. The most primitive of authentic sounds on this incredibly faithful collection of original, traditional, American, Blues music. The total packaging, production and performance contained here are first-rate and a tribute to maintaining the integrity of the Blues tradition.

Boscoe Tweede - Stay Tuned Music Zine

The Jump'n Jukes CD Release Party on 9/26/2008

The Jump’n Jukes will be celebrating the release of their first CD, “Bottoms Up Boogie” on Friday night September 26^th at Spiced Right Rib House, 635 Atlanta St in Roswell.  The show has an early start time of 7 p.m. and promises to be a big night for the band.  They would like to invite all of their friends, fans and fellow musicians to come out and celebrate with them. 

Spiced Right has that authentic juke joint atmosphere with a menu of wonderfully prepared barbeque that really sets the stage as a great new venue on the north side to enjoy Blues music. When the band was planning the CD release they knew this would be the perfect venue to showcase their original music.

The Jump’n Jukes recorded “Bottoms Up Boogie” with engineer Paul Diffin at Chapkin studio in Woodstock GA.  Paul has the background and the experience to bring that vintage sound to the project.  He is a talented upright bass player and a veteran of the Rockabilly scene as a former member of the world famous Blue Cats.  He has also recorded albums for Linda Gail Lewis (Jerry Lee’s sister) among others. Steve Sams, singer and harmonica player for the band said, “We chose to use Chapkin and hire Paul because this was the perfect combination to attain the authentic tone we were looking for”.  Combining the small studio with Paul’s high quality vintage recording equipment provided the perfect setting for capturing the essence of the material. 

Get ready for a wild ride on “Bottoms Up Boogie” as The Jump’n Jukes present nine finely crafted original compositions and four carefully selected standards.  This CD covers the American musical map from Memphis to Chicago, New Orleans to Texas with heavily spiced up-tempo guitar swing from the West Coast.  “Bottom’s Up Boogie” will have your foot tappin' and make it impossible to keep sittin' still!

The band features Steve Sams on vocals and blues harp and J Saily on hollow body guitars and slide. The rhythm section is handled by Pete Bennie sitting behind his Slingerlands and Mark McCoy on bass.  Together the band creates a rootsy and raw deep blues with an up-tempo lively swing.

The updated version of the Jump'n Jukes' flyer is now available. Click here to download (Adobe PDF format).

12/13/07: The Jukes on Myspace.com

12/11/07: Pete Bennie is Back

We are happy to announce that the original drummer and one of the founding members of the band, Pete Bennie, is back with us. Check out his bio here.

10/9/07: The Jump'n Jukes Debut CD

The Jukes have been in studio during the past several weeks to record the band's debut album. So it is finally becoming a reality.  Consisting mainly of original material the album will have a great mix from swing/jump blues to shuffles to rockin' blues even to dirty swampy slide blues, just as you could expect to hear at our gigs.

We are honored to have two excellent guest musicians participating in this project, Johnny Stingray on sax and Jim Kirkland on violin.

We are also very lucky to have Paul Diffin as the producer of our new CD. One of his latest works is Linda Gail Lewis' new album "Hungry Hill" so we know the quality of the final product will be excellent.

The release date has not been determined.