Bandleader Ray Gelato has been earning his daily crust for many years with his Giants, touring widely, their music and its presentation recalling the heady days of Louis Prima and Louis Jordan. His bands are always slick, Gelato cast as extrovert front-man, the arrangements by Peter Tomasso laden with punch and verve, the leader's ripe-toned tenor supported by some strong soloists. This time round, Gelato is concentrating vocally on a dozen plus of his own compositions, one or two culled from earlier releases, the emphasis on his wry, world-weary lyrics all bar a couple of peppy instrumentals. He's straight into ‘Get Off The Phone’ (dig the companion YouTube video), which reflects his irritation at being sidelined by all those avidly studying their smart-phones or bellowing into them when you want peace. It's witty, true, but makes the point ably and well. More to the point, perhaps, the band members hit their marks superbly. Then again, there are warm tributes to his affiliation with Soho's Bar Italia, shuffle rhythm and all, and his cook book interests with ‘A Pizza You’, plus his evocative tenor feature ‘Twilight in Soho’ and yet more cheery railing against modern-day nonsense in ‘Givin' Up Givin' Up’ and ‘Smoke It!’ All in all, as engaging-a-romp as you could want, hard swinging and authentic, with some neat observational stuff in the lyrics and plenty of oomph in his vocals.