You can always count on New Orleans Delight to issue a new CD yearly. Pardon the pun but this new offering is delightful and features Chris Tyle as special guest. The Danish/Swedish sextet does not include a trumpeter nor vocalist and this leads to a lot of diversity with guest performers. In the past, we have heard trumpeters Ken Pye, Derek Winters, Norbert Susemihl and Cliff "Kid" Bastien, reedman George Berry and vocalist Kristin Lomholt.

Chris Tyle is well respected within the traditional jazz community in America and Europe. A multi-instrumentalist, Tyle plays cornet, clarinet and drums. He is highly regarded as an expert on jazz history, especially concerning the New Orleans period. A dauntless practitioner of the pure Crescent City style, Chris Tyle lived in the city for about fifteen years. He now resides in Oregon and performs regularly at festivals and venues on the west coast.

The album kicks off to a rouser in the form of Dave Franklin and Cliff Friend’s When My Dreamboat Comes Home . The band handles the tune as a march which is quite logical when it is considered that the melody was based upon a time-worn military bugle pattern. Chris Tyle's jaunty cornet style is put to good use on Sugar Blues, a piece that will forever be associated with Clyde McCoy’s "wah-wah" approach.

New Orleans jazz bands played whatever the dancers demanded and the nightly fare included tangos, rumbas and waltzes. New Orleans Delight leader, clarinetist Kjeld Brandt loves uncovering obscure songs. His incessant research brings two such discoveries to the forefront on this session. First is a piece titled Begonia which appeared on a recent British recording. Brandt liked the melody and its Caribbean flavor. After many hours of detective work, he finally attributed the tune to the pen of Panama born Robert Mavounzy (1917-1974). This is the type of song that Monty Sunshine would love to perform and the twin clarinets of Tyle and Brandt do a fine job of introducing jazz listeners to a great piece of music.

Another gem is the title tune called True (You Don’t Love Me) penned by New Orleans clarinetist Louis Albert Cottrell. Don’t let anyone convince you that "only hot tunes" are written in New Orleans. True is one of the prettiest songs you’ll ever hear and it’s played with the graceful simplicity that was the essence of Louis Cottrell. Tyle and Brandt join forces on the metal clarinets and are backed by the N.O.D.’s solid rhythm section. The seven minute track includes some very nice piano by Goran Magnusson. This is a farewell performance by the pianist who is leaving the band after five years.

Chris Tyle contributes several vocals including the title track. Irving Berlin’s When I Leave The World Behind stands out and is reminiscent of spirited singers like the late Clancy Hayes. Tyle’s trademark cornet is heard on Mama’s Gone, Goodbye and several other songs including the rousing American Soldier which most listeners will identify as "Bugle Boy March."

One of the busiest jazz bands in Denmark, New Orleans Delight has just finished a British tour and is booked through mid 2005. Leader Kjeld Brandt will be heard on several venues later this month at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in the Crescent City.