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Peter Br: Fuck De Boere
by Derek Taylor
Leaving little room for equivocal interpretation, the title of this disc doesn't mince words and is totally indicative of the kind of antagonistic music symbolized by its imperative. As Brötzmann explains in the terse block prose of the sleeve notes the sentiment was gleaned from his many conversations with South African expatriate bassist Johnny Dyani who ...
Willis Jackson w/ Pat Martino: Gravy
by Derek Taylor
A celebrity in Rhythm & Blues circles since his late teens Willis Jackson fought an uphill battle trying to earn acceptance among the jazz intelligentsia. He and many of his peers including King Curtis and Fred Jackson were saddled with the barwalker stigma from the moment they tried to establish themselves as serious improvisers. Dates like ...
Henry Townsend & Friends: Henry's Worried Blues
by Derek Taylor
Miraculously still active after nearly a century of life Henry Townsend is a certified blues legend. A native of Mississippi born in 1909, he set up residence in St. Louis in his late teens and was soon ensconced in the thriving blues scene there. His sound is indicative of the region and often features sparse, utilitarian ...
Sonny Stitt & Don Patterson: The Boss Men
by Derek Taylor
Fruitful partnerships in jazz are one the principal ways both the music and the musicians stay creatively vital. Having a close colleague to riff off of and goad on keeps even an art form based on improvisation from going stale. Stitt and Patterson shared just such a relationship. The saxophonist and the organist teamed up on ...
Ted Hawkins: The Unstoppable Ted Hawkins
by Derek Taylor
Calling Ted Hawkins a blues artist unnecessarily narrows the breath of the man’s repertoire and reach. Closer to a modern troubadour his songbook drew on a wealth of music and influences. Busking on the sidewalks of Venice Beach for years he cultivated a sound steeped in the blues and rock and roll, Stax-era soul, American folk, ...
Scrapper Blackwell: Bad Liquor Blues
by Derek Taylor
Scrapper Blackwell was a pioneering blues guitar genius possessing a technique that made most of his peers green with envy. Sadly, as if living the lyrics of one of his song, his career took a mortal blow with the passing of his musical partner Leroy Carr. Carr and Blackwell were the earliest and most successful blues ...
Texas Alexander: 98
by Derek Taylor
Texas Alexander was something of an unlikely blues celebrity in his prime. Cut from the coarse cloth of country blues his voice was raw as birch bark with a dire edge and volume that balked at notions of lyrical finesse. In addition unlike most of his contemporaries he didn’t play an instrument. Instead the Okeh label ...
Ramblin' Thomas: Hard Dallas
by Derek Taylor
True to his ascribed moniker Ramblin’ Thomas was prone to riding the rails and wandering the back roads of rural America. At various points during his peregrinations he let the dust behind his feet settled long enough in urban areas to record the lasting sides gathered on this recent Catfish compilation. Unfortunately as fate would have ...
Franz Jackson & the Salty Dogs: Yellow Fire
by Derek Taylor
Traditional jazz has taken it on the chin of late in Chicago. Once a thriving epicenter for New Orleans and Dixieland revival bands the Windy City is now largely know for its acclaimed free jazz and avant rock scenes. In the larger scheme of the things the shift was slow in coming and unlike the demise ...
Joe McPhee: Trinity
by Derek Taylor
Until recently Joe McPhee’s early recorded years were something of a sealed book. The rarity of his vernal trilogy of vinyl releases for the CJR label forced most listeners to access these legendary LPs through poorly rendered bootleg copies or simply via the testimony of the lucky few fortunate enough to own original pressings of the ...
