Having converted to Catholicism James attempts here to explore the religious ecstasy of “Mass” though the medium of Jazz. Weather your into Jesus or not there is a strong argument for the influence Jesus and his Dads book have played in many forms of music throughout the ages. As you may have gathered from the [...]
Another spiritual work out for James, this live LP was recorded at Orchestra Hall & Paradise Theatre, a venue which was apparently due for demolition a few months prior to this recording. The cover notes don’t elaborate on quite how the venue swerved the wrecking ball but I quite like the idea that jazz was [...]
This is an interesting soul/funk 45 out of Chicago that would appear to date from about 1969/70. Not much is known about the group & I have been told by different people that they were & weren’t the same group that recorded for Blue Light as the Intensions, so that just really confuses things. It [...]
This is a monster of a slice of mid-60s Australian garage rock. I haven’t researched that much about this 45, but I do know that it will melt your speakers! (check out when the pummelling guitar riff comes in about 3/4 of the way through) The flip is their version of “I’m A Man” that [...]
This rules!! Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t detect a shred of humor here. I think, this is dead serious. In any case, I know the readers here, myself included deal with alot of these problems on a regular basis, and will find this song (?) PSA (?) funeral march (?) prescient. Listen
This heavy little 45 comes from the great state of Ohio, I have to assume it dates from the early ’70s based on the sound and the lyrical content of the b-side. All I know about Captain Foam is that the guy was billed as a one man band, I guess he played live with [...]
Ray Columbus & The Invaders were the most commercially successful of New Zealand’s R&B based beat bands. Formed around 1960 in Christchurch, they went through a number of lineup changes before disbanding in 1965. 1962-63 saw them move north to be based in Auckland before leaving for Sydney, Australia for 1964 onwards. Their early 1964 [...]
Picked this up for a couple of quid. Was kinda hoping it would be like some type of mind-blowing Afro Sun Ra-esque outing but sadly it isn’t as cool as my mind would have me believe. Two side long LP tracks make up the album so just an excerpt to listen to. Released in 1972. [...]
The first time I heard this 45 with it’s slick vocals and great horns I started to jones. Possibly one of my favourite jazz 45′s [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
This 45 Columbia version differs significantly from the Scat vocal / acoustic guitar led LP cut. One of my favorite Jazz 45′s that recently got crossed off the wants list. [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
A decent hypnotic example of Ethio jazz. This track makes me want to a) Visit Ethiopia. B) Charm Snakes. [Audio clip: view full post to listen]
John & Ed Strickland seem to have been something of a none to one almost hit wonder group, it’s actually been pretty tough to find any information on these guys or this 45. The actual A side is a nice mid/slow version of Wilbert Harrison’s “Kansas City Blues” that draws equally from country & R&B [...]
This was exactly what the world needed back in 1975, another version of “Tobacco Road”. It’s one of my favorite songs ever & has been covered by every man & his dog worldwide. This 45 is a version of it by a band that I’d never heard of & a label I’d never seen before [...]
Welcome to the magical world of Edna Mae Henning. A very special country singer from rural Pennsylvania. She is in many ways what I had always dreamed of in an older woman singing good ol’ fashioned country music. She has a way of capturing the soul of what is truly wonderful about the world around [...]
Crazy beatnik jazz from the 50s, heavy on the scat, bongos & humour. They have another EP before this one but I don’t know of anything else this group did apart from these two EPs on King. I suspect they both featured smilarly excellent cover art & the longer tracks (“Who Parked The Car” & [...]
Joe Cobb was a well known radio DJ on Chicago’s WVON for many years in the 60s & 70s. He cut this 45 for the local Ex-Pect-Mo label in 1972 & it was then picked up nationally by Cutlass out of Nashville who gave the record the much more colorful label & slightly altered X-Pect-Mo [...]
I bought this LP in Lissabon some eight years ago. I’d never seen it before or since. Rock is not my expertise, but it seems to me this is a record that should be better known. I’m afraid it’s really rare though. They play folk-funk with some latin-rock influences, cool percussion in the mix. It [...]
I’ve been unable to piece much together about this musician or the original performance of this cassette recording. It seems that Becket G. Senchur is (was) a member of The Order of Saint Benedict and this is a recording from one of his concerts at the Basilica of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. The [...]
A very solid modal LP featuring Joe Harriott, Ian Carr et al. Following a lengthy search for a decent copy, I was fairly alarmed when this one turned up in a used pizza box! Somehow it made it to me without a mark, the vinyl un-played the cover smelling lightly of Margarita. Song by the [...]
Another one comped by Peterson, Black Marigolds is probably not my favorite Garrick LP as a whole. However, I can’t escape my love for “Ursula” played by Don Rendell on Soprano and tenor Sax with Ian Carr on fluegel horn. “Ursula” [Audio clip: view full post to listen]