The Hot Sardines

New York's the Hot Sardines are a trad jazz ensemble who make 1920s- and '30s-influenced swing and blues. Emerging in the mid-2000s, the Hot Sardines built a passionate following playing live shows around Manhattan and issuing albums like 2014's The Hot Sardines. Formed in 2007 after lead singer/washboard player Elizabeth Bougerol (aka Miz Elizabeth), met pianist Evan Palazzo at a jam session, the Hot Sardines eventually grew into a full-fledged group featuring trumpeter Jason Prover, percussionist Alex Raderman, clarinetist/saxophonist Nick Myers, bassist/sousaphonist Evan Crane, and tap dancer Edwin Francisco. They released their full-length debut album, Shanghai'd, in 2011. That same year, the band's profile grew even bigger with their breakthrough Bastille Day performance as part of Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night's Swing series. Two years later they returned with the holiday-themed The Hot Sardines' Lowdown Little Christmas Record. The concert album Live at Joe's Pub, recorded during their 15-night residency at the Manhattan club, appeared in 2014, and that year also saw the release of their sophomore full-length album, The Hot Sardines, on Decca. In 2016 the Hot Sardines returned with their third studio album, French Fries + Champagne, featuring a cover of Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love." The album debuted at number five on Billboard's Jazz Traditional Chart. A live album, Welcome Home, Bon Voyage, arrived in 2019 and captured the band performing at their longtime home base of Joe's Pub in New York, as well as at Koerner Hall in Toronto. ~ Matt Collar