Help me out here: what constitutes a supergroup? My cynical side says media hoopla and plenty o’ merchandise seals the deal in many cases; enough cries of “We are a supergroup” and the t-shirts to prove it is the norm these days.

If a confab of veteran players with amazing talent and the pedigrees to prove it qualifies, then I humbly offer The New Orleans Suspects. Check out these resume highlights: guitarist/vocalist Jake Eckert hails from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band; keyboardist/vocalist CR Gruver was a jam monster in Outformation; sax player Jeff Watkins was James Brown’s musical director; drummer Willie Green has been laying down the Neville Brothers’ beat since back in the 80s; and Reggie Scanlan was The Radiators’ bassist for their 33-1/3-year run. If you want to throw in the side projects and historic jams this bunch has been involved in, the list would just get ridiculous. The point is, The New Orleans Suspects are a bunch of amazing players – and their new album Caught Live At The Maple Leaf proves it.

Click HERE to read the rest of my review on Jambands.com