Jazz Articles

Various Artists: Django’s Spirit. A Tribute To Django Reinhardt

by Nic Jones
March 28, 2010

Any tribute to a musician as phenomenal as Django Reinhardt leaves itself open to criticism, so all embracing was the guitar icon's ability to push at the boundaries, still felt to this day. Django's Spirit. A Tribute To Django Reinhardt isn't so much in Reinhardt's spirit as it is an attempt at bringing his work up to date, an exercise which might be considered pointless, given the timeless nature of his music.

While the spirit does, indeed, move through G. ...

Various Artists: Murder. Songs From The Dark Side Of The Soul

by Nic Jones
February 12, 2010

Themed compilations such as Murder. Songs From The Dark Side Of The Soul afford opportunity to hear just how diverse a range of interpretations a theme can provoke. Here the title is self-explanatory and that element of diversity exists in abundance.

Sonny Boy Williamson's “Your Funeral My Trial" is still as irresistible as ever; the intro, in particular, is the kind of thing from which The Rolling Stones took countless cues when its time was high. Williamson's delivery ...

Various Artists: Creative Outlaws: UK Underground 1965-71

by Nic Jones
August 9, 2009

Although the title might be a little misleading--there are enough acts here with eyes on the financial prize, as opposed to the wholesale reconstruction of society after all--this is still a compilation that encapsulates a vibrant and diverse moment in the history of popular culture and indeed British social history. The underground, through the prism of this album, comes across as a thing which, though it might inevitably have lacked focus, played to natural human curiosity in a way which ...

Various Artists: Wish You Too. Best Christmas Ever.

by Nic Jones
January 11, 2009

If there's such a thing as a cliche about the only Christmas-themed compilation you'll ever need, then this one was made to justify its existence as it's probably that very thing. It's a riot too, of the sort likely to upset the purist as it takes in both Booker T. And The M.G's and the Ramones.

But that's not the only thing that lifts the spirit. Binky Griptite's slinky “World Of Love" is filled with sincere optimism, even while it ...

Various Artists: Creative Outlaws. U.S. Underground 1962-70

by Nic Jones
June 3, 2008

A themed compilation like this is revealing not only of the highs, but also the lows in arguably the most important decade in the history of popular music. As defined here it reveals also that the U.S. underground of that time was as open to cynical opportunists as it was to fervent idealists. Thus for every MC5 there's a Tiny Tim.

There's also a Captain Beefheart and, for all of the degree to which he falls between those two stools, ...

Various Artists: Doom & Gloom. Early Songs Of Angst & Disaster 1927-1945

by Nic Jones
May 27, 2008

We might be living in troubled times but this compilation proves they're not unprecedented. Every misery is covered here, ranging from the wrath of nature to the eclipse of humanity's highest practical achievements, with a side order of war and conflict thrown in for good measure.

The thematic approach means the music straddles the racial divide; what unites the two is the theme of misery. Thus, both Blind Willie Johnson's “God Moved On The Water" and the Cofer Brothers' “The ...