The grandfather of Matthew Berlin, who co-produced Doing Things Right recording with Jim Kweskin and plays bass on it, operated a dancehall in the 1930s in Newport News, Virginia. That and skiffling inspire this recording with its mix of genres, all curated by Jim Kweskin of jug band fame, who is a scholar of and draws from the Great American Songbook. A long list of musicians play on it, but five of them are listed on the cover, singers Samoa Wilson,  Annie Linders, Racky Thomas, and Matt Leavenworth and slide guitar wizard Cindy Cashdollar. I hear a fiddle on some tracks, but no fiddler is listed in the credits.

There are fourteen tracks on the CD, which opens with “Four or Five Times,” which is a duet with Kweskin and Leavenworth and which has a big band sound. The liner notes refer to it as a foxtrot written by Byron Sturges in 1927. Next is a jug band number, “Casey ‘N Bill,” from Earl MacDonald in 1926. “When I Grow Too Old to Dream” was written by Romberg and Hammerstein in 1934 and features a duet with Samoa Wilson. It begins as a waltz and then morphs into a New Orleans second line sound. “Show Me the Way to Go Home” (Campbell and Connelly, 1925) is a solo sung by Racky Thomas. Next is “I’ll Sail My Ship Alone” (Moon Mullican, 1950). “What’ll I Do” (Irving Berlin, 1923) again features Samoa Wilson. “Mardi Gras Mambo” (Adams and Welsch, 1954) features Racky Thomas. “Ducks Yas Yas” (James “Stump” Johnson, 1929) features Annie Linders with lots of scat singing. “Mona Lisa” (Evans and Livingston, 1929) is a solo sung by Kweskin. “I Get the Blues When It Rains” (Klauber and Stoddard, 1929) again features Samoa Wilson. “Viper Mad” (Sydney Bechet, 1929) is a duet by Kweskin and Wilson. “We’ll Meet Again” (Parker and Charles, 1939) features Racky Thomas with a choir of five. “Farewell Daddy Blues” (Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, 1924) is sung by Wilson. The swing tune “Right or Wrong” (Sizemore and Biese, 1921) is a solo by Kweskin (the liner notes say that it features Wilson, but I don’t hear her voice) and closes out the recording. Cindy Cashdollar has a lovely break on it.

Each of these fourteen songs is carefully arranged and polished like a precious gem under Kweskin’s direction. All the singers and players have consummate skill. This is great music which is great to listen to.

Jim Kweskin presents: The Berlin Hall Saturday Night Revue: DOING THINGS RIGHT
Featuring: Samoa Wilson, Cindy Cashdollar, Annie Linders, Racky Thomas & Matt Leavenworth
Jalopy Records JR025

This CD was released on April 25, 2025, and it can be ordered on Bandcamp.