Ann Savoy & Her Sleepless Knights sophomore album, out July 7th from Memphis International, finds Ann and the guys doing what they do best: taking standards of the pop, blues and French variety, both familiar and obscure, and making them their own. In his liner notes, T Bone Burnett, a long-time Ann fan, notes, "She doesn't imitate the past, she animates it
" It's an assertion that is easily verified with even the most cursory listening to the new album where Ann is again backed by the stellar "Le Hot Club of Paris"-inspired combo fronted by Tom Mitchell (guitar) and Kevin Wimmer (fiddle) with Eric Frey on upright bass, Chas Justus on rhythm guitar and Glenn Fields on drums.
While Ann had long been associated with traditional Cajun music as a result of her work with the Savoy Family Band (the Savoy-only group that includes husband Marc, youngest son Wilson and Black Coffee co-producer and eldest son Joel) as well as with the Savoy-Ducet Band, Black Coffee is just not that kind of record.
Its roots go back to Tin Pan Alley, to pre-war Paris, the Mississippi Delta and down to New Orleans with an approach that's both cosmopolitan and authentic. There are blues songs associated with Bessie Smith, a special favorite of Ann's, as well as classics from the Django Reinhardt, the George and Ira Gershwin, Rodgers & Hart and Johnny Mercer canons. There is something subtle and wonderful that Ann does that makes the material audibly 'breathe' in a manner of speaking. Ann adds life to whatever she does and these songs are no exception.
