Articles by Mike Raggett

Album Review

Us3: Snap, Crackle and Bop!

Read "Snap, Crackle and Bop!" reviewed by Mike Raggett

by Mike Raggett
October 20, 2026

Geoff Wilkinson's music first gained wider attention through production library discs, often used for projects requiring a funky hip-hop style backing. Lesser known at the time was his involvement with Blue Note Records through his group Us3, which had a smash hit with a remix and sample of Herbie Hancock's “Cantaloupe Island," released under the title “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)," and selling 2.5 million copies in the '90s. After a break, Wilkinson returned to Us3 in 2025 with the instrumental album ...

Club Profile

Blue Note Comes to London

by Mike Raggett
October 17, 2026

It's taken a while for the storied Blue Note jazz club chain to come to London. It seems they were keen to be in the city for some time but had to wait until the ideal location became available. That location is on St Martin's Lane just up from the central Trafalgar Square. It's in the heart of theatreland and close to the tourist hotspots of Soho and Covent Garden. As bandleader Gary Crosby says, you can take a pleasant ...

Jazz Fiction

Adventures In Jazz In Wales and Beyond In The 1960s

by Mike Raggett
October 11, 2026

School Days “So are you coming tonight, Barry?" Phil Adams asked his colleague. “No, I think I'm going to give tonight a miss. It's so cold out there and I can't face the walk back here after the gig again. I doubt we'll get a lift tonight." “Well, I can't miss it. My namesake Phil Seamen is on drums for the visit of Art Themen." “Oh, he's the doctor guy, isn't he?"

Jazz Fiction

Sketches Of Spain Or Somethin' Else

by Mike Raggett
September 29, 2026

The Morning After It's the 1970s, the days before satnav, cell phones and Google Maps. I'm an Englishman working in Spain. I'm a training supervisor for a major motor manufacturer, so I have to travel around a lot, visiting garages--I don't think we called them dealerships in those days--to talk to sales staff about dealing with people and technical staff about dealing with machines. Just occasionally, I reverse the advice for fun. It doesn't change much whichever way it goes. ...

Jazz Fiction

Jazz on a Summer's Day in Paris

by Mike Raggett
September 10, 2026

Paris sizzles in the summertime It was so hot the birds weren't singing. Or moving even. They too sat exhausted on the branches of the pine avenue in the Bois de Vincennes. Some were even trying to find shelter under the bonsai collection. Not the peacocks though. They had flopped under the heritage apple and pear collection. Others congregated in the willows hoping some cool air would be wafted from the lake. Pierre and Violette zigzagged through the ...