Eric Shifrin and Ralph Carney are the E and the R in EaR Candy– so that must make Joe Kyle, Jr. and Randy Odell the a… Regardless, they have a fabulous time, delving into an eccentric book of music, mostly obscure old jazz tunes and the occasional high lonesome ballad.

Shifrin is a consummate saloon pianist, rolling out standards and rarities with alacrity, never at a loss for a tune and each tune embellished with perfect good cheer or heartfelt and wry… no matter the state of things out in the streets, boardrooms and political caucuses, it’s deep in his soul.

Carney has a resume longer than your arm, a jazz man from another probably mythical era, well known for his association with Tom Waits who says, “Ralph’s great… He’s guided by some other source of information. He’s like a broken toy that works better than before it was broken.”And Phil Elwood wrote, “…Carney playing spoons as if they were castanets then shifting to a weird twin-reed instrument that looks like an iris stalk and sounds like nothing else. Sometime along the way the irrepressible Carney plays a couple of instruments at once, blows on a musette, sings Noh vocals, plays a slide clarinet and slide whistle and is otherwise incorrigible.”

Randy Odell drums in jazz bands, blues bands, rockabilly bands– anywhere a rhythm’s required, and never misses a beat. And Joe Kyle, Jr.? No bassist gigs more than this wonder, energized by little more than a carton of Stumptown coffee and the occasional deep slumber in his car between stops…

photo copyright Dennis Hearne