New Orleans' most famous, well-traveled, and recorded celebrates its 25th anniversary with its ninth release. Best known in circles for contributions to albums from , , and especially (with whom they toured and whose appears as guest vocalist on a track), the hotshot horn men offer few surprises on this disc predominantly comprised of popular Crescent City classics. But why bother stretching boundaries when their sound remains unique, stimulating, and inspiring? Adding a full-time keyboardist and guitar fleshes out but doesn't dilute the seven tooting horns as they tear through an inspired if slightly obvious set of covers from hometown legends ( ), ), and ) with infectious enthusiasm. Guests range from sacred steel guitar master -- whose soaring, hair-raising solos on three tracks infuse even more goosebumps than the already nail-biting musicianship -- to on vocals and piano, (adding nifty scratching doesn't appreciably update ' down-home approach), and jazzman . Sexy chanteuse gets slinky on the most sensuous version of ever recorded, and 's gritty vocals make the slow-groove version of 's even better than 's original. But no matter how often you've heard these tunes, 's crackling second-line rhythms, bumping tuba basslines, and uncanny ability to shift from boiling low-down gumbo to make the versions here essential listening. as they say in the appropriately titled opening track. ~ Hal Horowitz