JITTERBUG VIPERS

The Jitterbug Vipers specialize in a cult jazz offshoot called “viper music,” a screeching U-Turn back to the party where jazz music packed the dance floor and dazzled the audience with brilliant streams of improvisatory musicianship. Steeped in the ribald wit, quaint sophistication, and graceful virtuosity of classic artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie, the Jitterbug Vipers make the sound their own. “We don’t think of ourselves as a jazz band,” says bassist Francie Meaux Jeaux. “We think of ourselves as a 1930s rock band. We just wail.” Raucous and refined, toking and swinging, the Austin-based quartet draws the crowd into its heady bliss whenever and wherever it takes the stage. Most modern takes on the 20s and 30s feel stiff and rehearsed, long shackled by nostalgia and overly reverent revivalism. But the Jitterbug Vipers’ “swingadelic” tunes are a different story, full of energy and genuine surprises. *** The Jitterbug Vipers read more...