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An extraordinary and stylish album.
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Genuine Negro Jig is a stunner in every sense. Its music is as fresh and innovative as it is deeply rooted in its time and place.
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Erasing the gap between the 1930s and today, this striking North Carolina trio brings a modern sizzle to the legacy of classic African American string bands like the Mississippi Sheiks, with fiddles, banjos, and even kazoos sparking an electrifying ruckus.
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The strength of their playing and singing showed that they meant business. If anything, this set is even better and is certainly more varied.
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Several generations removed from the origins of their chosen idiom, the Carolina Chocolate Drops are nonetheless the genuine article.
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Genuine Negro Jig is perfectly recorded, balanced between the best sound this century can deliver and the rustic, throwback feel of an old-time string band in action at a picnic, dance or rent party in the '30s. That’s the accomplishment here.
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Flemons, Robinson, and Giddens pull off the trick by sinking imperceptively into the rustic ether of the string rhythms. Though the music is not without personality, it is never overwhelmed by hints of the players’ modern origins.