Blue Plate Special

In 1994 the retro-swing ensemble Blue Plate Special assembled in Los Angeles. Early the next year the group issued its debut single, “Now Serving,” with a lineup that featured vocalist/guitarist Kevin Wright, pianist Ken Charlson, trumpeter Phil Topping, saxophonists Joe Martin and Derek Carver, bassist Todd Clark, and drummer Adam Bankhead. Mid-1995 brought a very limited 78 rpm pressing titled “Skin Tight,” and several months later the band captured the demo The Taft Hotel Tapes. Early in 1996 another demo, the unreleased Live on Sunset Strip, was tracked at the notorious L.A. club the Viper Room and introduced new vocalist Fred Stuart. In May 1997 David Oulett assumed vocal duties in place of Stuart, and the ensemble—now comprising Charlson, Topping, Clark, and Bankhead plus newly added saxophonists Mike Newman and Nate Dreyfus—began laying down its debut LP, A Night Out with Blue Plate Special. Oulett exited shortly after the sessions concluded, Stuart rejoined, and the album was re-recorded to accommodate the shift before appearing in 1998 on the Slimstyle label.