There has been a lot of debate this year about how jazz seems to have lost its sense of humour often accompanied by a lot of pious chest beating.

I just wonder what Howard Moon, Mighty Boosh jazz maverick, novelist, cyclist, genre-spanner, rider of the Penny Farthing, and stamp collector would make of this.

Deep in the juju – Howard Moon

But one band know where to locate their collective funny bone or at the very least don’t take themselves too seriously. Coming out of nowhere Postmodern Jukebox blazed a trail all the way to the top of the iTunes charts for weeks on end and had a good old laugh along the way. Maybe the biggest joke is that ragtime can connect with a modern audience in the first place.

On one level this is all affectionate homage. But there’s plenty of musicianship on Twist is the New Twerk and on one of their many videos Postmodern Jukebox may even have achieved mission impossible and found a new comedy role for smooth jazz pope Dave Koz making up perhaps for the latter’s truly dreadful Christmas album The Twenty Fifth of December an album delivered with all the charisma of a call centre’s Christmas party.

Scott Bradlee, the Jukebox leader, says: “I have long had a love/hate relationship with pop music. Growing up as an aspiring jazz pianist, I wasn’t interested in listening to anything that might appeal to those that I deemed to possess a less than refined palette of musical taste. This wilful ignorance continued for some time; it was not until I began making YouTube videos that I decided to drop my preconceived notions and examine contemporary pop with an open mind.” The guys with the humour bypass and snobbish tendencies could do a lot worse than follow Bradlee’s example and follow suit.

The gigs are at the Empire Music Hall, Belfast on 6 February opening the European tour and at Vicar Street, Dublin next day with a big block of GB dates to follow from 8-17 Feb.