Jazz Articles

Sting and Shaggy: 44/876

by Nenad Georgievski
April 15, 2018

Every summer needs its soundtrack, i.e.--a song or an album full of songs that will remind people that it's good to be alive. The summer is the time to feel good and it has to have its music that would reflect the fun and mischievous behavior that you would remember the summer by. And on this duet record between pop star Sting and dancehall star Shaggy, titled 44/876, a potent cocktail of timeless Caribbean styles come together in a full-scale ...

Sting: 57th & 9th

by Nenad Georgievski
November 6, 2016

Throughout his long and illustrious career, Sting has enjoyed an enviable set of circumstances. Not only does he have total artistic freedom but he has been accompanied by elite musicians and has a devoted, global fan base. In return, that has yielded many artistic triumphs as he explored almost every genre known to man. He has been eclectic in his choice of inspiration which is filtered through an ever expansive musical worldview. That incorporates all kinds of sounds and music ...

Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs and Englishmen

by C. Michael Bailey
December 23, 2014

Mad Dogs and Englishmen A & M Records 1970 Give me a ticket for an aer-o-plane...I ain't got time to take no fast train... The first record album (long player of LP, that is—what old people put on turntables and played) I ever bought was Joe Cocker: With A Little Help From My Friends ( A&M, 1969). I purchased this lovely for $2.69 at Osco Drug in the University Mall in ...

Sting: The Last Ship

by Nenad Georgievski
October 20, 2013

Much like his fellow collegue, musician Peter Gabriel, British singer and songwriter Sting has spent the past decade, since his last album with original material Sacred Love (A&M, 2003) in endless touring, reissues, cover albums and recording past material with a philharmonic orchestra. Far from being inactive or lazy, during that time he also reunited his band Police twice--once for the induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 and for a lucrative world tour in 2007/08. ...

Sheryl Crow: 100 Miles from Memphis

by Ernest Barteldes
August 10, 2010

On 100 Miles from Memphis, singer/songwriter Sheryl Crow pays homage to the Memphis soul sound that deeply influenced her as she grew up, literally “100 miles from Memphis," in her native Wisconsin. The disc kicks off with “Our Love Is Fading," an up-tempo, horn-heavy rocker that might just become the album's first hit single. The relaxed reggae tune, “Eye to Eye," follows with lyrics about the end of a love affair--a recurring theme for Crow. The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards ...

Peter Frampton: Thank You Mr. Churchill

by Doug Collette
May 6, 2010

Thank You Mr Churchill is Peter Frampton's latest attempt to reconcile fame with artistic integrity, a campaign he's been waging much of his career. Looking to escape his teen idol status in The Herd by partnering with Steve Marriott in the quasi-super group Humble Pie, he departed their ranks when growing fame relied too heavily on hard rock, at the expense of his more reflective and subtle approach. His first solo album, Wind of Change (A&M, 1972), remains his most ...

Joe Cocker and the Grease Band: Live at Woodstock

by C. Michael Bailey
January 2, 2010

Great Britain taught America to be proud of her musical heritage by importing it, transforming it, and sending it back to her. The American South between 1920 and 1960 was a hothouse for all of America's great musical offerings: blues, R&B, country, jazz, and rock and roll. All of these genres germinated in the United States, migrated to Europe--particularly the United Kingdom--attend finishing school and were carried back to the United States by, among others, The Animals, The Beatles, Rolling ...

Herb Alpert: Definitive Hits

by AAJ Staff
January 22, 2003

How self-serving can one musical genius be to have a label he co-founded release a collection of his best-loved songs?

But this is not just any self-serving genius. This is the guy who brought the world Dolores Ericson covered in shaving foam. This is the self-serving genius who scored the best James Bond film that wasn’t really a James Bond film ever. This is the self-serving genius who set the music to elevators and waiting rooms around the world.

This ...

Antonio Carlos Jobim: Wave

by William Grim
July 15, 2002

Antonio Carlos Jobim's music defined the bossa nova movement, and he was largely responsible for the last worldwide popular musical style that featured subtle melodies, literate texts, and sophisticated harmonies. During the late 60s and early 70s Jobim, along with producer Creed Taylor and arranger Claus Ogermann, produced several albums that rank among his finest. Wave is one of those masterworks.

Subtlety is the key element in this album. Although most of the songs are in the medium tempo bossa ...

George Benson: I Got A Woman And Some Blues

by Douglas Payne
April 1, 1998

This odd hodgepodge of funk jazz and R&B / pop was recorded by guitarist / vocalist George Benson for A&M / CTI Records around 1970. It first appeared on vinyl in 1984--long after most anyone cared about Benson's music--and has finally just made it onto CD. There's no personnel listed, but it's worth betting that Idris Muhammad is manning the drums (sounds like flautist Hubert Laws and organist Dr. Lonnie Smith make brief appearances too). Benson's guitar, of course, sounds ...