Okay, so I know that Wheels Start Turning by New Jersey-based Blues Jumpers is not exactly a new album, but since Best Buy has picked it up and is featuring it this month, it's appropiate to review the album. I have two words for you: killer-diller. No kidding, this is a great album. The Blues Jumpers have a style all their own. Imagine Louis Jordan crossed with Indigo Swing. It's a great feeling, perfect for dancing or just listening, and full of energy.

As their name suggests, the Blues Jumpers are a jump-blues outfit, proclaimed to be "East Coast's answer to the hot West Coast swing scene that's packing clubs in Los Angeles and San Francisco every night." This album doesn't sell them short, either. The opening track, "Wheels Start Turning" starts it off hot, jump blues at it's best. Eldridge Taylor's voice keeps your ears perked, and Doug Oberhamer's trumpet comes out clean and strong. Through the rest of the album, the boys keep the feeling, from slow numbers like "Jim Beam" and "Nightmare World," to more up tempo pieces like "Thanks For The Boogie Ride" and "Good Morning Judge" (which most of you will recognize in an instant). I was particularly pleased by the playful song "Chartreuse," and the album also features an excellent cover of the Gene Krupa hit "Ball of Fire." All in all, I was more than pleased with the album. An excellent investment.

When it comes to dancing, Wheels Start Turning is a great choice. Most of the songs rang from medium to medium fast tempos, perfect for a Lindy or a little Jitterbug. Just a little warning: these songs are deceptively fast. "Thanks For the Boogie Ride" and "Good Morning Judge" don't sound as fast as they really are. Especially if you want to Lindy. They aren't "Sing, Sing, Sing" fast, but they can tire you quickly. So, if you have a coronary, I warned you.

All in all, the Blues Jumpers' Wheel Start Turning is a great album, full of great songs, and possessing a good jump-blues spirit that is sorely lacking in most of jump-blues bands in the neo-swing movement. Four stars!

The Blues Jumpers consists of: