Talkin’ Blues with Jimmy Herring

Check out my interview with Jimmy Herring on All About Jazz.

Tags: interview, Jimmy Herring

RIP Hubert Sumlin

The absolute real deal.

Tags: hubert sumlin

New John Scofield Interview up on All About Jazz

Scofield looks back on his ’80s music—and his time spent with Davis—fondly. “It looks funny to us now, because of the fashion and some of the synth sounds,” says Scofield. “And Miles was actually bigger than a rock star; that’s my theory- -that rock stars kowtowed to Miles. A rock star’s just a rock star; this was Miles Davis, man, the giant of modern music who was playing the rock star role. When Miles played, people like Jack Nicholson and Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger would kowtow to him. He was the number-one guy, period, culturally, in music. I remember the Montreux gigs [soon to be released on DVD] as being especially good for us. Miles at that point—sometimes he wouldn’t play; he had a social life that was happening, going to rock star parties and stuff, and I don’t think he played that much. But when we went out on tour, he really got his chops up. And for Montreux, we’d been playing a couple weeks.” Read the full interview

Tags: John Scofield

The Beginning of World Music

My regular column in All About Jazz was just launched, it looks at “Eastern Sounds” a classic album by Yusef Lateef that passed the 50 year mark this September.

If you’re a Derek Trucks, Miles Davis, Duane Allman, John Coltrane, Jimmy Herring fan and you haven’t yet encountered Yusef Lateef, check out  one of the first forays into World Music

Tags: World Music, Yusef Lateef

R.I.P. Dan Peek, Founding Member of America

Dan Peek, a founding member of soft-rock trio America, which shot to the top of the pop charts in the 1970s with bouncy, lightweight hits including “A Horse With No Name,” “Ventura Highway” and “Sister Golden Hair,” died Sunday at his home in Farmington, Mo., outside St. Louis. He was 60.

Tags: America, Dan Peek

Tedeschi Trucks Band: So what does Revelator reveal?

Two wings of equal strength endow a bird with the capacity to truly soar. This principle also helps to explain why Revelator (Sony, 2011), the debut album of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, has soared to #1 for blues releases on Amazon, #2 in rock, and #3 in all of music. This band brings together vocalist Susan Tedeschi, whose previous release in 2009 earned her a Grammy nomination, with slide guitarist Derek Trucks, who won the Grammy for his 2009 release. What’s particularly striking in this pairing is how evenly matched these exceptional talents are.

LOL & Impressive Musical Impersonations

Jimmy Fallon as Neil Young with Bruce Springsteen

Tags: Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Dana Carvey, Eddie Murphy, Elvis, impressions, Jimmy Fallon, Johnny Cash, Neil Young

Javier Colon: Flashback with the Derek Trucks Band

Javier Colon is a fresh face to most people, but longtime fans of the Derek Trucks Band remember him from his nearly two years with the band.  It’s been almost ten years since he left the band to pursue a solo career, and it’s great to see him finally gaining the recognition he deserves.

Curious about what he sounded like with the Derek Trucks Band back in 2001?  Have a listen:

Tags: Derek Trucks, Javier Colon, The Voice

1000+ Jazz MP3s — Free & Legal

Here’s a free and completely legal way to get into jazz with a mp3 library of over 1000 tracks for your own private, personal, non-commercial use.

Tags: free mp3

R.I.P. Phoebe Snow

Tags: phoebe snow

Left-Handed Blues

When it comes to the blues, that lonesome road takes a sharp left turn.

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Tags: Albert King, Barbara Dennerlein, doyle bramhall II, Gary Moore, Johnny Winter, left-handed, Steve Cropper

John Scofield Interview: Talkin’ Blues

John Scofield is one of the world’s most influential and respected guitarists, a musician and composer who has worked with many of the greatest names in jazz: Chet Baker, Gary Burton, Billy Cobham, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan and scores of others. His 30 plus solo recordings have taken his fans on a remarkably wide-ranging musical journey – from straight ahead jazz, bebop, and fusion, to funky experimental outings with Medeski, Scofield, Martin, and Wood, and even gospel jazz fusion with his Piety Street Band.  On his current album 54 (Emarcy, 2010), he is backed by a 50 plus piece orchestra, complete with strings, harps, brass, and woodwinds, and, as always, he somehow manages to play in a way that appeals to jazz aficionados and discerning guitarheads.

Fans of Soulive, Phil Lesh & Friends, Govt. Mule, and John Mayer are well aware that John Scofield is an exciting and soulful player, and this ability to be true to himself as a serious jazz artist, while also appealing to rock, R&B, and blues fans is what makes him so special. After watching him (@ Moogis.com) blow the roof off the Beacon when he sat in with the Allman Brothers Band on March 18, 2011, I thought it would be fascinating to talk to this jazz icon about coming of age in the ’60s & ’70s and get his take on the icons of blues rock. So this interview was conducted just a few days after that event.

Regular readers of this blog know that I publish my interviews on All About Jazz, but this year a major retrospective interview with John Scofield was already planned for the later part of 2011 to coincide with the release of his upcoming album A Moments Peace (Emarcy, 2011.) Nevertheless, he graciously agreed to this interview on blues rock guitar for Jazzamatazz, and I resisted the urge to ask him about jazz and his work with Miles and the other jazz greats – we can all look forward to that later this year on All About Jazz. Meanwhile, if you see any names you don’t recognize, or any of your favorites, be sure to check the hyper-links – there are even links to posters of concerts John saw as a high school student.

Jazzamatazz: First, as a blues fan I want to tell you how much I love your album Piety Street (2009, Universal Music). It’s one of those recordings where everything just seems to have fit together perfectly, from the material and musicians down to the great cover art. And the fact that you decided to do a gospel album in New Orleans and actually ended up in a studio on Piety Street, it just doesn’t get any better than that.

John Scofield: Yeah, it was one of those things, almost like being helped from above. It was also so much fun doing that record. Of course I knew the studio was on Piety Street, but it really didn’t register until I got down there.

Jazzamatazz: Jon Cleary was a great choice, it’s uncanny that a guy from England sings and plays piano like someone who grew up in the 9th Ward, and if that weren’t enough, he’s a fine guitarist.

John Scofield: Jon Cleary is just a major talent, and we did a year of touring after the album came out. It was wonderful working with him and he’s just become a great friend. He’s actually been into it for a long time, his story is rather interesting. His father and uncle were way into the music of New Orleans when he was a kid. So he grew up with New Orleans music playing around the house all the time, and his uncle was a musician. His sister was also really into it and had already moved down there, so when he was about age eighteen he was already playing and singing it, and at this point he’s lived down there for a long time.

Jazzamatazz: You’ve also had John Boutté who famously sings the theme song for HBO’s mini-series Treme. Have you had a chance to watch it, and are there any plans for you to appear in an episode?

John Scofield: Yes, that’s so great. We actually recorded Peity Street before that, and I was so happy to see that they used his music for the series. I actually watched one of the episodes with Jon Cleary in it, it’s very good. They haven’t asked me, but I’ll be there if they want me.

Jazzamatazz: You seem to have retained a rock energy when you need it, but other than a bit of B.B. King I can’t spot a particular influence from a blues or rock player. Were there any rock or blues player you listened to in your early years who had a lasting influence on you?

John Scofield: So first, there is influence, and then there are also people whom you like and respect. I liked and respected all of the blues players, and they all kind of played a bit like B.B. King, Otis Rush, Albert King and Freddie King. And I loved those guys, and Hendrix and Clapton, and I was a teenager when that first came out.

I started playing guitar at the end of 1963 just before the Beatles came over. [Laughing] I think I had my guitar out holding it when I was watching the Beatles on television on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Tags: Cream, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Herring, Paul Butterfield, Sly and the Family Stone, Warren Haynes, Yardbirds, Young Rascals

My Interview with Jim Hart

UPDATE: Jim Hart has been nominated for musician of the year in this year’s Parliamentary Jazz Awards, one of the most prestigious set of jazz awards on the UK jazz calendar.

Jim Hart is one of the hottest young musicians on the U.K. jazz scene. His impressive skills are matched by a level of experience and maturity that belie his age. His musicianship elicited this praise from vibes heavyweight Joe Locke: “Some of the best music I’ve heard in a long time. Definitely the best vibes playing I’ve heard in a long time.”

An alumnus of Chetham’s School of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he was awarded the John Dankworth “Most Promising Musician” award in the BBC Big Band of the Year competition for his drumming, and his skill as a vibraphonist earned him the British Jazz Award for “Rising Star” in 2006, and for miscellaneous instrument (vibes) in 2007.

Read the interview on All About Jazz

Tags: Jim Hart, Vibes

Allman Brothers Meet Steely Dan

This was worth the price of admission!  Donald Fagen of Steely Dan sits in.

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Check out Susan Tedeschi in the background.

Tags: Donald Fagen, Steely Dan

Scientists Examine Clapton’s Mojo

Why would someone create a replica of Blackie, complete with every single nick and scratch, including the wear pattern from Mr. Clapton’s belt buckle and the burn mark from his cigarettes? And why is that replica expected to fetch at least $20,000 at Wednesday’s auction, and probably much more?

Fortunately, social scientists have been hard at work on the answers. After conducting experiments and interviewing guitar players and collectors, they have just published papers analyzing “celebrity contagion” and “imitative magic,” not to mention “a dynamic cyclical model of fetishization appropriate to an age of mass-production.”

Read more in the New York Times article

25 Essential Albums: 1960 – 1974, a guide for music fans under 30

GOING OLD SCHOOL

This photo from August 1969 shows people on the way to Woodstock.  A month earlier they watched people walk on the Moon,

Hall & Friends

Here’s another fantastic use of the Internet. If you haven’t watched “Live From Daryl’s House” yet, it’s time to discover something really wonderful — an intimate celebration of music. A particularly good show is the episode with the country singer Jimmy Wayne.

Below is a description from Daryl Hall’s website:

Daryl Hall started Live From Daryl’s House, the free monthly web show in late 2007, after having the idea of “playing with my friends and putting it up on the Internet,” and the show has since garnered acclaim from Rolling Stone, SPIN, Daily Variety,CNN, BBC, Yahoo! Music and influential blogger Bob Lefsetz, who have cited Live From Daryl’s House as a perfect example of a veteran artist reinventing himself in the digital age by collaborating with both established colleagues and newer performers.

Past episodes of Live from Daryl’s House have featured a mix of well-known performers like Smokey Robinson, The Doors’ Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek, Nick Lowe, K.T. Tunstall, Todd Rundgren, Gym Class Heroes’ Travis McCoy, Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump, Finger Eleven’s James Black and Rick Jackett, the Bacon Brothers and country star Jimmy Wayne, along with newcomers such as Philly soul singer Mutlu, Canadian techno-rockers Chromeo, MySpace pop-rock phenom Eric Hutchinson, Cash Money rocker Kevin Rudolf, Wind-up Records’ Chicago rockers Company of Thieves, Bay Area singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson, Charlottesville, VA’s rising Parachute, Chicago rock band Plain White T’s and highly touted tunesmith Diane Birch. (from Live From Daryl’s House website)

Tags: Daryl Hall, Live from Daryl's House, Rob Thomas, Smokey Robinson, Todd Rundgren

R.I.P. Jimmy Dean

Tags: country western, jimmy dean

My Interview with Susan Tedeschi

What a treat it was to interview Susan Tedeschi, the future looks bright for the Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Band.  Read the interview on All About Jazz.

Allman Brothers Band 2010 NYC Run – Ongoing Update

The Allman Brothers 2010 NYC run was not as exciting as last year’s 40th anniversary celebration, but I got the sense that there was a new and improved group dynamic.  If you watch the ABB 2004 commercial DVD and compare it to this 2010 run, you’ll notice a shift in leadership.  Warren, Derek and Oteil are now on much more of an equal footing.  Otiel in particular has really emerged as an important force.

Otiel is a musician’s musician, musically on top of his game, appreciative of others’ playing, enthusiastic and supportive, and now ready to take his rightful place on stage.  I was really surprised by his voice when he sang Anyday, he has a strong voice and creative phrasing, and his bass playing is simply great.  He’s a joy to watch on stage, he’s all about the music.

Tags: doyle bramhall II, jay collins, junior mack, scott sharrad