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Skip Heller: For EP Fans Only
by C. Michael Bailey
Fred “Skip" Heller is, in my estimate, a most undervalued cultural mind. Musically restless by nature, Heller is a two-million candle light, illuminating whatever musical style is intriguing him at the moment. This restlessness has led to Heller's exploration of the organ trio on It's Like That: The organ Trio Anthology 1998--2004 (Jewbilee, 2004) and Fakebook (Hyena, 2004) and a deep descent into the Heart of America. Heller began to sharpen his focus with specialized projects like 2012's ...
read moreSkip Heller: Songs With Memories: Skip Heller and Friends Play Floyd Tillman
by C. Michael Bailey
It would be oh so tempting to say the music impresario Skip Heller has found his niche with Songs With Memories: Skip Heller and Friends Play Floyd Tillman but with his next recording, more likely than not, he would prove that statement ludicrous. Heller's 2012 Fakebook II: That's Entertainment (Weatherbird) was a sequel to his 2004 recording of “standards" Fakebook (Hyena Records), the two bookending a number of recordings documenting Heller's curious musical evolution to where we are now.
read moreSkip Heller: Fakebook II - That’s Entertainment
by C. Michael Bailey
Skip HellerFakebook II: That's EntertainmentWeatherbird Records2012 Fred Steven “Skip" Heller is one of those musicians with a gravity great enough to create his own universe. He is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, bandleader, producer and writer with an all-encompassing musical knowledge, interest and vision that is readily witnessed in his All About Jazz column Hardly Strictly Jazz. He is a stylistic moving target playing guitar- organ trio before moving on to Americana ...
read moreSkip Heller: Foolish Me
by C. Michael Bailey
Fred “Skip" Heller is a hip musical polymath from Philadelphia, living on the West Coast, where he burns through musical styles like there is no definition. He has a major, and unapologetic, jones for John Hartford and Roger Miller and an encyclopedic knowledge of American music, of which he continues to be a student, teacher, shaman. Mention any name from anywhere in the history of New World music and Heller will have something to say about it. His personal discography ...
read moreHarry Goldson's Caf: R.S.V.P. for Dancers Only
by Jack Bowers
Calling Harry Goldson’s ensemble an orchestra is a bit of a stretch; it’s actually an octet with vocalist Jeanne Pisano added on two numbers (“My Foolish Heart,” “I Should Care”). That’s not a knock, merely an observation, and one should hasten to add that no matter the size of the group, Goldson always flies first–class. With him on this colorful excursion are “regulars” John Pisano, Trey Henry, Ralph Razze and Les Benedict and newcomers Ben Di Tosti, Ron King and ...
read moreHarry Goldson Big Band: Swing, Swing, Swing
by Jack Bowers
Bandleader Harry Goldson’s second release on Weatherbird is much like the first — Jazz–inflected dance music from the popular songbook, sometimes with strings, played in the manner of Ray Anthony, the Elgart brothers or Ted Heath. A second constant is the presence of some of Southern California’s finest studio and session players who give music director Pat Longo and arrangers Gordon Brisker, Lon Norman and Gary Urwin ample reason to smile. In other words, the music does indeed Swing, Swing, ...
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