Jazz Articles about John Mayall

About John Mayall

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Extended Analysis

Having announced he will be limiting his touring in the future, John Mayall doesn't seem to have lessened his engagement with recording. On the contrary, for The Sun Is Shining Down, 'The Godfather of British Blues' surrounds himself with a roster of high-profile contributors, all of whom play to their respective strengths and sound inspired collaborating with a genuine musical icon. Equally importantly, this fifth Forty Below Records studio outing (out of some forty overall) radiates a sense of deep ...

Extended Analysis

The First Generation 1965-1974

by John Kelman
March 18, 2021

What do guitarists Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Taylor, Jon Mark, Harvey Mandel and Freddy Robinson, reed/woodwind multi-instrumentalists John Almond, Ray Warleigh, Alan Skidmore, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Red Holloway and Ernie Watts, bassists John McVie, Jack Bruce, Andy Fraser, Tony Reeves, Stephen Thompson and Larry Taylor, drummers Mick Fleetwood, Keef Hartley, Aynsley Dunbar, Jon Hiseman and Collin Allen, trumpeters Henry Lowther and Blue Mitchell, and violinist Don “Sugarcane" Harris all share in common? They are but a few of the notable ...

Book Review

Blues From Laurel Canyon: My Life As A Bluesman

by Doug Collette
June 27, 2020

Blues From Laurel Canyon: My Life As A Bluesman John Mayall with Joel McIver 336 Pages ISBN: #978-1785581786 Omnibus Press 2019 Blues From Laurel Canyon seems an odd assignation of a name for John Mayall's memoir, if only because that main title doesn't quite correspond to its subtitle My Life As A Bluesman. But in his very introduction to these three-hundred thirty-six pages, 'The Godfather of British Blues' clarifies the point, if only ...

Album Review

John Mayall: Nobody Told Me

by Doug Collette
March 9, 2019

Over the course of some fifty-plus years, the bands of John Mayall have served as a proving ground for some estimable guitarists. Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor and Peter Green are just the most famous axemen who've aided and abetted “The Godfather of British Blues." Yet, in all that extended time, he has never before had a female lead guitarist in any lineups until the enlistment of Texas wunderkind Carolyn Wonderland on Nobody Told Me. In keeping with other ...

SoCal Jazz

John Mayall: In The Pocket at 84

by Jim Worsley
March 11, 2018

For the past five and a half decades, John Mayall has written scores of both relevant and joyous music. It should come as no surprise that at the tender age of 84 he continues to do so. It soothingly, and ingeniously, seems to flow out of him like a calm, yet telling, river. Many years ago, he was dubbed the Father of the British Blues. Rightfully so, as in the early 1960's he created, or revolutionized (depending on ...

Extended Analysis

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers: Live in 1967

by Doug Collette
April 18, 2015

Because his career didn't directly ascend to a higher profile subsequent to his tenures in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, guitarist Peter Green's membership in the group doesn't receive as much prominence as that of, Eric Clapton who became an icon of contemporary or Mick Taylor, who joined the Rolling Stones for arguably the greatest albums of their career. This despite the fact Green formed Fleetwood Mac with bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood when he left Mayall's auspices in 1967 ...

Live Review

John Mayall at the YMCA Boulton Center For The Performing Arts

by Mike Perciaccante
October 5, 2014

John Mayall YMCA Boulton Center for the Performing Arts Bay Shore, NY September 19, 2014 During John Mayall's long and storied career, the singer, songwriter, harmonica master, keyboardist and guitarist has used Chicago blues as the foundation for his signature sound, which also melds rock with a slight touch of jazz. His backing band is and has always been known as the Bluesbreakers. Membership in the Bluesbreakers has changed regularly since the late '50s ...