Articles by Alan Jones
Clues and Roots: Tracing the Genius of Mingus
by Alan Jones
When I first heard the music of Charles Mingus it was if I had been struck violently from underneath, yet the subsequent fall was a welcome descent embodied by contemplation and a strange sense of satisfaction. The record was Blues and Roots, and the moments of discovery in the listening journey since have been few and far between.
The function of the bass in small ensembles has always been of great interest to me. Bass players, the really ...
Continue ReadingDave Riley: Whiskey, Money & Women
by Alan Jones
The Dave Riley blues style is marked with equal parts authenticity and guts. With blues singer/guitarists currently available at a dime for the dozen, it is refreshing to be confronted with a dose of originality. New York’s Fedora Records seeks to keep the blues in its elliptical orbit through featuring such musicians as Riley, a fearless practitioner whose music is fueled by his own encounters with life’s blue junctures. His music is succinctly delivered through meaty crunch chords, layered precision ...
Continue ReadingKelly Joe Phelps: Sky Like a Broken Clock
by Alan Jones
Today’s blues is often characterized by eccentric stylistic deviations, sometimes only leaving trace elements of the roots. It is not uncommon to hear blues that is devoid of a bar structure and repetition. Ordered melody and bridges replace recurring chord patterns. The untrained vocals that often exemplify blues lyricism are relinquished for refined, more calculated tones of expression. Like other improvisation-based music forms, blues is moving in a linear fashion.
Guitarist/singer/songwriter Kelly Joe Phelps is taking the music by force, ...
Continue ReadingRobert Pete Williams: Robert Pete Williams
by Alan Jones
The music of Robert Pete Williams does more beyond telling a chain of personal and fictional stories. His music, like the works of great literary figures, is a life-breathing, transcendental product of experience. He perfected the effects of escape and dark satire in his work, which often has an almost supernatural quality.
Williams met a temporary fate brought on by violence and implied jealousy. Forced to defend himself in a scuffle at a bar, the bluesman shot a man to ...
Continue ReadingBuckwheat Zydeco: Down Home Live
by Alan Jones
In the twelve or so years that have lapsed since I listened to a Buckwheat Zydeco record, it is comforting to know that the group is still going strong, and yet no wonder. Convincing evidence to their momentum can be heard in their latest release on Tomorrow Recordings, Down Home Live. Down Home Live, a Thanksgiving performance recorded at El Sid O’s Zydeco & Blues Club in Lafayette, Louisiana, is Buckwheat Zydeco’s first (no kidding) live recording, a concoction of ...
Continue ReadingLeon Redbone: Any Time
by Alan Jones
Do you remember the first time you heard Leon Redbone? I was six years old, elbows at the edge of my parents’ bed, hands propping up my chin. Saturday Night Live was an occasional family ritual. At such a simple age I was partial to Mr. Bill, Land Shark, and of course, the musical guests. I remember when they announced Leon Redbone (was it Buck Henry? Charles Grodin?). Leon had all the facets of a common cartoon character; the gag ...
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