Amazon.com The lineup here might make you think this was a night of improv; Dave Douglas, Don Byron, Uri Caine, and Mark Feldman are all better known for their experimental jazz forays than for performing standards. But on The Sidewalks of New York, these top downtown NYC players and a handful of crackerjack vocalists cover the tunes that made Tin Pan Alley famous. It's a trip, literally--right back to the turn of the 20th century. From Irving Berlin's "Cohen Owes Me Ninety Seven Dollars" to Bert Williams's "Nobody," these are (mostly) forgotten gems, played as traditionally as possible, but with a ton of energy and sonic cues--the found sounds of a horse carriage on cobblestones, the applause of the audience, and even the chugging of a train--that'll have you wondering what decade this was recorded in. The highlight? A couple of rousing versions of Shelton Brooks's bluesy "Some of These Days" performed by Barbara Walker, first as an extended "rehearsal" then with a full band and crowd. As on the rest of this "audio film," you feel like one very lucky fly on the wall of a studio in which a great session is taking place. As with the majority of the discs on German label Winter & Winter, the packaging and sonics are awesome. You can practically close your eyes and you're there--the only thing missing is the smell of cheap perfume. --Jason Verlinde