TERRY WALDO & THE GOTHAM CITY BAND, Treasury Volume 1

Under the direction of label president Scot Asen, Turtle Bay Records’ endlessly wondrous aesthetic of having their artists create fresh new interpretations of early 20th Century popular songs reaches a fun and furious fever pitch on pianist Terry Waldo & The Gotham City Band’s epic Treasury Volume 1.

A breathtaking endeavor with 10 tracks created with up 14 ensemble musicians, including the magnificent vocalists Veronica Swift and Tatiana Eva-Marie, the collection is a veritable treasure trove of ragtime era blues romps, some by legends everyone still knows (W.C. Handy’s infectious “Yellow Dog Blues,” which follows Jelly Roll Morton’s boisterous and brassy “Wolverine Blues”), others by lesser known composers (the feisty, highly danceable “Tiger Rag,” the heavy stompin’ piano pounder “San”).

In addition to being a famed musician who was mentored many decades ago by the great Eubie Blake, Waldo is the author of This Is Ragtime whose knowledge of the genre is so extensive that Wynton Marsalis calls him his “go-to” person when he has a question about the historical genre.

Saving the most unique recording for last, the pianist and his ensemble took a fascinating approach to Scott Joplin’s familiar “Maple Leaf Rag,” recording on acoustic equipment owned by tenor saxman and trumpeter Colin Hancock. The band played their parts into horns which transformed the captured sounds into grooves on a direct cut 78 blank disc. The finished disc was sent to Rich Martin of Archeophone Records, who restored the track in the same manner as a century old record.

Other highlights include Jerron Paxton’s whimsical vocals and dazzling solos by Jay Rattman (bass sax), Jim Freyer (trombone) and Ricky Alexander (clarinet) on “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home?” and the charming lead vocal showcases for Eva-Marie (“I Get The Blues When It Rains”) and Swift (“After You’ve Gone”).