I've been given something approaching a score of compact discs for review in the last six months and none of that number is as appealing than this disc. Recorded in the Park Ponderosa Ballroom in Wisconsin, Norrie Cox and His New Orleans Stompers have crafted a sort of musical time capsule that transports one back to the days when bands, like they advertised on the business cards, furnished "music for all occasions," and most of those occasions, parties, weddings and the like, included dancing.

We sometimes forget that jazz developed as functional music, as accompaniment to the dance. Thankfully the Stompers have not. The band stamps this varied program of predominately old pop numbers ("South of the Border" and "Coquette," for example) with the easy, relaxed tempos that were hallmark of bands led by the likes of George Lewis and "Kid" Thomas.

Leader and clarinetist Cox, originally from England, but based in Milwaukee for many years, is joined by cornetist Charlie DeVore, bassist Bill Evans and drummer Don Berg (all from Minnesota), California-based trombonist Jim Klippert, and Madison Wisconsin's Mike Carrell on banjo. All of these men have spent the better part of their musical lives playing in the New Orleans tradition, and it shows. There is a certain generosity of spirit throughout this recording, a feeling of warmth and joy that the band is able to impart to the listener.

Pianist Butch Thompson, who often plays with many of the members of the Stompers, penned the notes and in them points out that although many stylistic influences are apparent in the playing on this record, none of the musicians here ape any particular individual. As Thompson puts it: "Learn the language, then speak." I like what Norrie Cox and company have to say.