Kokomo round again

By their own standards, Kokomo have been out of the limelight for the past two years.

But now they are back, after being in an illness-enforced state of limbo, with a new album that takes them back to their roots.

It All comes Round is the band's ninth studio album and one that sees Kokomo returning to the world of pre-war blues, the fertile fields of Mississippi blues and sparkling East Coast ragtime.

These are mixed with a selection from contemporary Kiwi blues in the band's own songs and works from Bill Lake (Windy City Strugglers) and Rotorua's Mike Garner.

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Photo: Ann Reading

Though the band is a four-piece, Kokomo's regular trumpet player, Sonia Bullot (wife of harp maestro Grant Bullot), has been unable to play for the past two years due to an extended illness.

The band had been delaying new recordings until her return but a trip in June to play at the Rotorua National Blues Festival reignited the love of early acoustic blues which had fuelled Kokomo's first two highly-regarded albums in the 1990s.

Immediately after the festival the remaining trio retreated to Tauranga's Boatshed Studio and recorded this collection.

What emerged was a mixture of well-known early blues (Luke Jordan's Cocaine Blues, Leroy Carr's How Long Blues) and largely forgotten obscurities - Mine's All Troubled Blues from Rev Gary Davis, Tommy Johnson's Bye Bye Blues - all presented with a maturity and authority that comes from years of playing together.

The set is rounded out with Kiwi blues, showing the timeless nature of musical style: Bill Lake's delightful Tintin's In Love sits happily alongside country/blues perennial Plastic Jesus and Derek Jacombs' ragtime title track.

The stripped-back setting allows Grant Bullot's superb blues harp to take centre stage, showing off his distinctive melodic approach to the instrument. Derek Jacombs' singing and guitar playing are both at their peak and Nigel Masters' upright bass is impeccable as always. Australia's Queen of Boogie-Woogie Piano, ex-pat New Zealander Jan Preston guests on one track.

This is the first Kokomo album to be released on their own Boatshed Records label (previous albums have been on Jayrem Records) and marks the start of their relationship with distribution company Border Music.

The Kokomo back-catalogue will be re-released by Border Music in early 2012.

The band was formed in 1991 after a chance performance at the National Jazz Festival. Derek Jacombs had been invited to present a set of solo blues and brought Grant Bullot to join him. The concert turned into a runaway success and they decided to form a full-time band to spread their love of acoustic blues.

Later that year the band set out on the road with a "we play anywhere" policy, which saw them playing 200 shows a year, everywhere from the smallest country towns to Auckland's Aotea Centre. www.kokomo.co.nz