Rhythms Magazine
July 2002

Lost In Spice
THE OLD SPICE BOYS

We can all be accused of taking music too seriously - but not The Old Spice Boys.  This deliciously entertaining trio from Byron Bay create fun and inspire admiration with music that's fresh, spare and centred around finely crafted tunes, inspiring arrangements and the ukulele.

Leader Azo Bell is a master musician and a superb ukulele player.  In Bell's hands this modest instrument is an object of wonder.  The Old Spice Boys can lift the heart.  Bob Brozman, another uke master, was inspired sufficiently at the recent East Coast Blues and Roots Festival to reportedly tell them that "they are a world class act."  I agree.  I was there.  I came home and bought a ukulele!

This isn't Hawaiian music.  It's jazz, swing, blues and just plain great melody built upon a gentle view of life that demands that we just stop for a while, have a think and smile, smile smile.

Mungo Jerry, T Rex drummer and erstwhile thespian, Tim Reeves, with just a snare drum and appropriately overwrought vocals, adds a theatrical bent to their performances.   A more than ample bass and presence is provided by Billy Milroy on the one string tea chest bass.

The Old Spice Boys aren't a jug band - they're far more expansive than that.  Virtuoso musicianship allows even fun to become sublime.

Steve Baker   barfly@zoomnet.com.au