Jimmy Luxury: Hotels, Limousines and Lawn Chairs

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Jimmy Luxury and Tommy Rome have been busy over the past two years, marketing their unique style of ghetto swing via the Hollywood film studios. Oceans 11 (2001), Me Myself & Irene (2000), Phone Booth (2002) and Go! (1999) all featured tracks from Luxury's debut swing-hop release, My True Love Is. In between movie projects, somehow they found the time to create one of the most exciting recordings in years. Hotels, Limousines and Lawn Chairs is a masterpiece, blending vintage-styled Latin riffs with modern hip-hop and dance beats—it's similar to blending Perez Prado, Dean Martin and Puff Daddy in a cocktail mixer, shaken until very cool! Or as Jimmy puts it, "silky Latin flavors, classical Italian spices, vintage American Verve and slamming beats." Any way you slice it, this album is killer.

Hotels features only nine tracks but includes three short skits, which enhance the Jimmy Luxury experience. The album opens with "Umelina", a tune that harkens back to the upbeat Mambo dance hits of the last century. Unlike the first Luxury release, where Jimmy handled most of the singing, Hotels incorporates the beautiful female vocals of Brett Abramson, who offers the soothing laidback chorus to Jimmy's rap on "Don't Let the Sun." "Somedays", "Mi Corazón" and "Summertime" highlight Micaela Saxer, who accents the songs with her Italian and Spanish vocals behind Luxury's lead. A special treat is the power dance music-driven track "Especially Strong Cha Cha"—think go go meets cha cha with a house backbeat.

Luxury's latest is not your typical retro music lover's first choice; rather it is the shape of things to come. It represents a bold step forward by two composers, backed by a talented band that features horns and even a DJ, who see the possibilities of blending classic big band, lounge, and Latin music with a truly modern edge.