Samsara

As the Great Swing Craze of the late ’90s came to an overdue close, Tom Maxwell, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist for the North Carolina-based Squirrel Nut Zippers quit the band. Some might have cynically guessed he was just looking for a new trend to latch on to and that he’d soon turn up in sequinned leather pants and a silver shirt as part of some boy band. Fortunately, his first solo effort, Samsara, is evidence his affection for the popular music of the first half of the 20th century wasn’t merely a phase. Generally that music is jazz, though blues, folk and country all poke their heads to the surface on tracks like “Three Fire Blues,” “Roll Them Bones” and “Flame In My Heart.” Maxwell even veers further from tradition on “Indicatif” and “Some Born Singing,” getting himself knee-deep in Eastern melodies and instrumentation. Throughout Samsara, his enthusiasm for the music is obvious, and while it won’t kick start any new retro revivals, that’s really for the best.