No, really Coolbone is a good band. They're an all-brass hip hop act (featuring a guy playing tuba instead of bass), and they swing. I've seen them twice play before sparse crowds, but apparently, they pack 'em in back home in the Big Easy. Man, that'd be the joint; 2,000 people swinging to the simple but fun sounds of Coolbone.

But it's on CD, too, and it just doesn't work. I mean, it sounds okay, but at 18 tracks it's too damn long and the party vibe is missing. Not too bad a track or two at a time, but beyond that it gets little old. Well, like their song says, "ya gotta sweat when you're black."

-Jason Josephes