Jazz Articles

Smokin' Joe Kubek featuring Bnois King: Bite Me!

by Ed Kopp
May 1, 2000

Smokin' Joe Kubek (lead guitar) and Bnois King (vocals, second guitar) have been blues collaborators for over a decade now. Kubek is a versatile Dallas-based axeman who favors rock-style guitar effects. Louisiana native King is one of the most tasteful singers ever to front a crunching electric blues band. Unlikely as the Kubek-King partnership seemed in the beginning, it has worked very well over the course of nine albums and countless live dates. Bite Me! is a typical ...

Smokin: Bite Me!

by Ed Kopp
May 1, 2000

Smokin' Joe Kubek (lead guitar) and Bnois King (vocals, second guitar) have been blues collaborators for over a decade now. Kubek is a versatile Dallas-based axeman who favors rock-style guitar effects. Louisiana native King is one of the most tasteful singers ever to front a crunching electric blues band. Unlikely as the Kubek-King partnership seemed in the beginning, it has worked very well over the course of nine albums and countless live dates. Bite Me! is a typical ...

Sax Gordon: You Knock Me Out

by Ed Kopp
February 1, 2000

In post-World War II America, two new strains of jazz competed for the public's attention: the bop of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, and the honking jump-blues made famous by saxophonists Red Prysock and Big Jay McNeely, among others. The latter style nearly died out with the advent of rock 'n roll, but a succession of maverick saxmen and a few avid record collectors kept the flame burning. Sax Gordon is one of the best saxophone wailers to come along ...

Claude Williams: Swinging The Blues

by Mark Corroto
February 1, 2000

Author Michael Ondaatje wrote Coming Through Slaughter, a fictional account of the real New Orleans barber and perhaps the first jazz musician, Buddy Bolden. Bolden’s myth and infamy comes from the fact he was never recorded. Thus, his life makes for great story telling and his sound for much exaggeration. For violinist Claude “Fiddler” Williams, recording in his ninth decade on this planet, his sound is a living archive of jazz history. Williams was born in 1908 in Oklahoma and ...

Charles Brown: In A Grand Style

by Ed Kopp
November 1, 1999

Charles Brown pioneered a sophisticated form of post-World War II blues that was part slow blues, part mellow jazz. Brown's smooth music inspired the likes of Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Little Richard and countless others who later became much wealthier than their idol. Over the past decade, a new generation of listeners has fallen in love with Brown's music, thanks mostly to the efforts of Bonnie Raitt, who invited Brown to tour with her band on the heels of her ...

Wilson Pickett: It's Harder Now

by Ed Kopp
November 1, 1999

Wilson Pickett's first release in over a decade is a hot blast of authentic Southern soul. Pickett sounds downright dangerous as he roars his way through these 11 originals. With rough-hewn guitars, exploding horns, funkified beats and a soulful contingent of backup singers, this one feels like Muscle Shoals circa 1965.Granted, no song on It's Harder Now is quite as good as “Mustang Sally" or “In The Midnight Hour." But “Stomp," “Soul Survivor" and “Taxi Love" come pretty ...

The Johnny Nocturne Band: Nothin' Wild & Cool

by Ed Kopp
August 1, 1999

The Johnny Nocturne Band is a nine-piece swing outfit from the San Francisco Bay area led by Alaska native and tenor saxman John Firmin. A horn-driven group, the Nocturne Band also features smooth singer Brenda Boykin, a jazzy crooner with a deep, full voice. Wild & Cool is sophisticated, swingin' and fun.

These musicians are well-schooled jazzers, and the vibe is right out of the late '40s, early '50s. This group straddles the line between bop, swing and blues, and ...

Michelle Willson: Tryin' To Make A Little Love

by Ed Kopp
August 1, 1999

It's the rare blues recording that's suffused with honest emotion. Michelle Willson really seems to pour out her soul on Tryin', particularly on the ballads.

Known mostly as a jump-blues singer, Willson also tackles cabaret-style jazz and slow graceful soul on this, her third release. Credit producer Scott Billington for surrounding Willson with a crack band of veteran musicians, most from New Orleans, including Johnny Vidacovich (drums) and James Singleton (bass) from Astral Project, and a fine three-man horn section. ...

Roomful of Blues: There Goes the Neighborhood

by Ed Kopp
August 1, 1999

Few bands could survive the loss of three key members, but Roomful of Blues has endured numerous personnel shakeups in its 31-year existence. There Goes The Neighborhood marks a change in both personnel and attitude for the legendary ensemble. Now that trombonist Carl Querfurth is gone, guitarist Chris Vachon appears to wield more influence. The emphasis is more on straight-ahead blues with fewer swing tunes, though there's enough swing here to keep long-time fans happy. New singer Mac Odom has ...

Sugar Ray: Sweet & Swingin'

by Ed Kopp
August 1, 1999

Sorry, but I just can't resist yet another review of another CD by another former member of Roomful of Blues. Some of you might reasonably conclude that I work for Roomful in some capacity. Not only do I NOT work for ROB, I have never received a single free item from any present or former member of the band -- not even a damn cassette. Fact is, I'm addicted to the music these guys generate.

Sugar Ray Norcia recently left ...