Jazz Articles

Our daily articles are carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. You can find more articles by searching our website, see what's trending on our popular articles page or read articles ahead of their published dates on our future articles page. Read our daily album reviews.

154

Album Review

Jay Hooks: Jay Hooks

by Ed Kopp
October 1, 2000

If you're into flashy, ear-splitting guitar pyrotechnics, check out Jay Hooks' self-titled debut on Provogue. The Houston native is an admirer of Johnny Winter, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and his best moments definitely call to mind those blues-rock guitar gods.Even Hooks' slower blues tunes ("Straight Whiskey," “If Life Don't Kill You," “The Last Time I Left Memphis") sound wild on this release. Playing in a classic trio format, Hooks rips through 11 original numbers (most co-written ...

180

Album Review

Omar & the Howlers: The Screamin' Cat

by Ed Kopp
September 1, 2000

Picture Wolfman Jack fronting a slicker, bluesier version of Creedence Clearwater Revival, and you have a pretty good idea of the sound generated by Omar and the Howlers on their latest release The Screamin’ Cat. A prolific band (this is the trio’s eleventh release in a decade), Kent “Omar" Dykes and company return to familiar territory here -- a swampy meeting ground of blues, rock and pop -- after straying into the trendy land of swing on a couple of ...