Jazz Articles about B.B. King

About B.B. King

Album Review

He's known as one of the founding jazz fathers of Hammond B-3 organ funk, but Jimmy Smith has always played the blues. Born in December 1928 in a suburb west of Philadelphia, Smith has been performing since he was 12, at that time in a song and dance act with his father. After a stint in the navy, Smith took advantage of the GI Bill to study bass, piano and music theory upon his service discharge. During this period Smith ...

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Album Review

B.B. King: Let The Good Times Roll: The Music of Louis Jordan

by Ed Kopp
January 1, 2000

B. B. King pays tribute to his late friend Louis Jordan with this swingin' collection of covers.Jordan’s music has not been lacking for attention of late. First, the Broadway show “Five Guys Named Moe" became a smash hit on the strength of his tunes. Then a horde of zoot-suited ex-rockers became Jordan imitators during the retro-swing craze. With the swing thing now waning, the King of the Blues has decided the time is right to put his own ...

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Album Review

B.B. King: Blues on the Bayou

by Ed Kopp
August 1, 1999

Last summer I attended a disappointing B.B. King concert in which the blues legend spent most of the show talking instead of playing. Fortunately he plays and sings wonderfully on this release, his best since Blues Summit. B.B. finally lets his excellent road musicians strut their stuff live in a studio setting, with no overdubs and no high-tech tricks. “I'll Survive" stands with his best tunes. The rest of the CD features 14 fast, slow, and mid-tempo blues originals. Even ...