Jazz Articles

Blue Jay Patten: Street Scene

by Nicholas F. Mondello
October 23, 2018

With Street Scene, multitalented musician/composer/producer Blue Jay Patten engages in a highly entertaining tribute to (and stroll through) Nashville, “Music City." Patten--long a fixture in the 'ville--and his various crews deliver an eclectic, upbeat, and all-around fun tour. As is the city it salutes, Street Scene is a veritable gumbo of genres--contemporary, jazz, country, gospel, pop and folk--each approached with integrity, outstanding musicianship and sparkling sass. Appropriately for a Nashville nod, the instrumental opener, “Rocky Top," has Patten's ...

Jay Patten: Crystal Nights

by Nicholas F. Mondello
November 15, 2011

There's an anecdote that surfaces every now and then about the legendary Buddy Rich. The ever hip and irascible drummer/bandleader was once asked, during a hospital stay, if he had any medical allergies. “Country music," he wisecracked. Well, Rich, ever the master showman, might reconsider upon hearing this most enjoyable, highly eclectic release from the incredibly talented, Heart of Country Music-based saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist Jay Patten. With Crystal Nights (A reference to his longstanding friendship and professional association with ...

Jay Patten and the Swing Noir Orchestra: All in Blue Time

by Jack Bowers
September 25, 2003

For comparison's sake, think of Sinatra with Billy May or Nelson Riddle. Saxophonist/vocalist/guitarist Jay Patten has put together an impressive ensemble of Nashville-area musicians and engaged the services of a top-flight arranger in longtime friend Jeff Steinberg to brighten All in Blue Time, Patten's fifth album under his own name and first with a big band. A further asset is the presence on four tracks of the renowned clarinetist Buddy DeFranco, who continues to play marvelously at age eighty.

The ...