The New Standards: Old Rock Guys In New Jazz Trio Play Old Rock Songs

For reasons we’ve not yet figured out, we’re almost smitten with the New Standards, a jazz trio that does covers of rock classics, recent pop hits and indie-rock favorites. (See full tracklist after the jump.) What makes the recently released Rock And Roll (Princess Records) any more enjoyable than, say, elevator-music versions of Nirvana songs or Christopher O’Riley’s maudlin piano interpretations of Radiohead? Maybe it’s the song selection: Elvis Costello’s “Watching The Detectives” and the Clash’s “London Calling” are natural fits for the piano/bass/vibes trio; “Maps” (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and “Hey Ya” (OutKast) are surprisingly effective, too. (The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” is kind of a miss, however.) The members of the New Standards are Twin Cities veterans: bassist John Munson (Semisonic, Trip Shakespeare), pianist Chan Poling (Suburbs) and vibraphonist Steve Roehm (Electropolis). Speaking of Semisonic, drummer Jake Slichter wrote an honest and pretty funny 2004  account of that band’s encounter with one-hit wonderdom titled So You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star.

“Maps” from Rock And Roll:

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Rock And Roll tracklisting:
“Rock And Roll” (Lou Reed)
“Hey Ya” (Andre Benjamin)
“Such Great Heights” (Ben Gibbard, Jimmy Tamborello)
“Watching The Detectives” (Elvis Costello)
“Androgynous” (Paul Westerberg)
“Bring It On Home To Me” (Sam Cooke)
“London Calling” (Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Topper Headon, Paul Simonon)
“Toxic” (Bloodshy & Avant, Cathy Dennis, Henrik Jonback)
“Maps” (Nick Zinner, Karen Orzolek, Brian Chase)
“Is That All There Is?” (Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller)