Jazz Articles about Jim Josselyn

Jim Josselyn: Shape Shifter

by Kyle Simpler
August 17, 2023

Keith Richards once said if “you don't know the blues, there's no point in picking up the guitar." This is certainly true about rock, but it could just as easily apply to jazz. Many of the great jazz guitarists have roots in the blues, and Jim Josselyn is no exception. His album Shape Shifter offers a tasty serving of jazz seasoned with the blues. Josselyn started playing guitar when he was young, but he took his ...

The Jim Josselyn Group: Brazilian Sunflower

by Dave Hughes
November 1, 2001

The Jim Josselyn Group’s Brazilian Sunflower isn’t so much about Brazilian music as it’s title suggests; perhaps it’s the sunflower itself that’s Brazilian. True, the title tune and the closer do have that gentle lilting samba feel, but I would describe this more as jazz with a Brazilian influence rather than the other way around. But categorizations aside, this outing is pure contemporary straight-ahead enjoyment.

And it’s nice stuff. After the two-minute “Prelude,” the remaining songs are long enough (seven ...