Jazz Articles about Skip Heller

Skip Heller with Dose: The Battle in Seattle 3.13.03

by C. Michael Bailey
October 10, 2003

Skip Heller is a West Coast Uri Caine with a much more wicked sense of humor. That comparison should be flattering to both parties, as they were friends growing up on the jazz fertile street of Philadelphia. Both men like to apply jazz, or simply music, if you will, in the most unlikely places. Ever searching, The Battle in Seattle finds Mr. Heller traveling North from his Hollywood home to Seattle Washington to...

Hook up with an amazing rhythm ...

Skip Heller: Inviting You In to his Musical World

by R.J. DeLuke
February 21, 2003

Where do you start with Skip Heller, a self-taught guitarist, composer, arranger who's been playing bars and clubs since his high school days, everything from blues to rock to rockabilly to bluegrass to folk and on and on. He knows Mahler and Dave Douglas. He knows Louis Jordan and Henry Mancini. He may be the world's biggest Mose Allison fan and at the same time he digs the attitude punk rock brought to music.

He's scored music for ...

The Skip Heller Quartet: Homegoing

by Jim Santella
December 2, 2002

Skip Heller's organ combo brightens the day with its saucy freshness and pert attitude. Eclectic in nature, the group interprets blues, pop soundtracks and mainstream jazz classics. It's timeless music with a timeless flavor. Heller emerged in Philadelphia in the mid-eighties, but his music, much of it original, comes from an earlier era. Shirley Scott, Groove Holmes, Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, and Don Patterson showed the world how much fun small group jazz could be. Jazz has evolved, but the ...

The Skip Heller Quartet: Homegoing

by C. Michael Bailey
November 25, 2002

Wow! Skip Heller is a bit hard to describe. And, that is what is so splendid about him and his art. He is a West Coast Uri Caine who plays the guitar and has a bent sense of humor. On Homegoing, Heller returns to his native Philadelphia, a repatriated expatriate. After several well-received recordings, both as leader and sideman, on the left coast, Heller produces the most original and fun guitar-organ jazz recording this year.