This cool, sleek soundtrack for a night of cocktails, sophisticated banter, and, hell, maybe even nookie brings the elegance of ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s jazz blues crisply into the present. New England trad-guitar heroes Geils, Robillard, and Beaudoin provide plenty of improvisational flair for these 11 tunes, which are originals save for the chestnut “Honeysuckle Rose.” On their second disc, they’re joined by former Bachman Turner Overdrive/Guess Who guitarist Randy Bachman, whose playing has always had roots in classic bop and swing. (Check the BTO track “Looking Out for Number One.”) Bachman also gives voice to two Mose Allison covers, one of them the timely anti-war ballad “Everybody’s Crying Mercy.” But what’s best is hearing them shut up and play their guitars — that’s when the gorgeous melodies they conjure emerge and develop, as in Beaudoin’s lovely “Blue Sunset.” To call this album “timeless” may seem a cliché, but it’s accurate.
JAY GEILS AND GERRY BEAUDOIN | Regattabar | July 25 at 7:30 pm | 617.395.7757 |www.regattabarjazz.com
