Samoa Wilson and Jim Kweskin, I Just Want to Be Horizontal | The Vinyl Anachronist

Samoa Wilson reminds me a little of the Occaquan Inn in Virginia, one of my favorite restaurants in the world. The Occaquan Inn, which is located right on the bank of the Potomac, has a reputation for being haunted by a Native American spirit who dwells in the upstairs ladies’ room and loves to come out and knock all the butter knives off the tables. That’s cool in and of itself, but my fondest memory of the Occaquan is the Victrola near the entry which was always playing 78 rpm records during the dinner service. That detail alone created an indelible impression–especially when they played Depression-era recordings of hot Parisian jazz. On I Just Want to Be Horizontal, singer Samoa Wilson has partnered with guitarist Jim Kweskin to pay tribute to the type of music that might be played on that old Victrola, especially the recordings Teddy Wilson made with Billie Holliday back in the 1930s when she was still relatively unknown. The two have been working on this sound for a decade, and it’s a mature and thorough result. Wilson has that ’30s voice down pat, pure and simple with a measured yet generous vibrato. Kweskin, who sings along […]