Mahavishnu John McLaughlin
Interview by Steven Rosen, Guitar Player, February 1975
MAHAVISHNU JOHN MCLAUGHLIN has taken the guitar further in the last two years of his career than most players hope to in a lifetime. His approach ...

Mahavishnu John McLaughlin
Interview by Steven Rosen, Guitar Player, February 1975
MAHAVISHNU JOHN MCLAUGHLIN has taken the guitar further in the last two years of his career than most players hope to in a lifetime. His approach ...

Grover Washington: Mister Magic
Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, April 1975
IN JAZZ circles, Grover Washington Jr. is even unique because though he has been commercially successful in a big way, he still appeals to the hard-headed ...

Ramsey Lewis: Don't It Feel Good
Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, November 1975
WITH THE ever growing interest in jazz, it's interesting to note that in most instances, the names who are bringing about the revival are relatively new ...

Weather Report: New Victoria, London
Live Review by Ian MacDonald, NME, December 1975
TO MYSTERIOSO OR not to mysterioso – that was the question facing Weather Report last Thursday at nine ...

The Pasadena Roof Orchestra: Pasadena Uber Alles!
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1975
"ALL OVER Germany the people are freaking out...it's their cool English sense of humour...they have to beat off the groupies with sticks." ...

It's a bit early for New Year predictions, but here's one: Al Jarreau
Report and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, December 1975
TO EVERYONE who's raved over Al Jarreau's Warner Bros album, We Got By, the identity of the man has remained an enigma that demanded solution. With ...

Wayne Shorter Cuts It
Interview by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, December 1975
WAYNE Shorter used to be introduced by Art Blakey in the 1950s like this: "This is Wayne Shorter, ladies and genulmen... ‘cos he’s shorter than me!" ...

Nancy Wilson: Nancy A Woman Of Today
Interview by David Nathan, Blues & Soul, June 1976
Talented. Aware. A warm and sincere human being. That's Nancy Wilson. She's achieved a great deal already but aims to fulfill many more dreams, both professionally ...

John Coltrane:The Other Village Vanguard Tapes
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, April 1977
The combination of affection, respect and awe in which his fans held the late John Coltrane is given to few people in any walk of life. ...

Herbie Hancock: V.S.O.P.
Review by Paul Rambali, NME, May 1977
WHEN THIS was recorded in June 1976 as part of the Newport jazz festival, it came from an evening grandly titled a 'retrospective of the music ...

Al Jarreau: Look To The Rainbow — Live
Review by Paul Rambali, NME, June 1977
OF THE twelve songs here, four are from his first two albums, two are throwaway versions of show-tunes and the remaining six are new material. Enough ...

You can't put a price on education, say the Blackbyrds…
Profile and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, March 1978
The guys have always restricted their working schedule in order to further their education. This has cost them a lot of dollars but they figure that ...

Herb Alpert and Hugh Masekela: Herb and Hugh Fusion
Report and Interview by John Abbey, Blues & Soul, March 1978
Herb Alpert and Hugh Masekela explain their Tijuana Meets Africa project ...

Anthony Braxton: Living In The Dynamic Operating Arena
Profile and Interview by Vivien Goldman, Sounds, August 1978
IT HAS TO be said that playing an Anthony Braxton album is the quickest way I can think of to clear a rock fan's room. ...

Oregon: Out Of The Woods
Review by Paul Morley, NME, November 1978
IT'S GOOD to hear that Oregon's music remains pure and fresh despite the possible clumsy patronage of a large label. Using a number of combinations of ...

Georgie Fame: Right Now! (Pye)
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, March 1979
"WELL, WELL, well, hello there, it's been a long, long time." Doesn't that introduction to 'Funny How Time Slips Away' take you back? I address my ...

James Blood Ulmer: Tales Of Captain Black (Artists House)
Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 1980
IT WON'T be long, I guess, before someone describes James "Blood" Ulmer as "the new Hendrix", so you might as well be ...

Frank Sinatra: She Shot Me Down (Reprise)
Review by Jeffrey Morgan, Creem, April 1982
IF, AS THE THEORY GOES, there's a little bit of Van Halen in everyone come Saturday night, then you can safely bet your last dollar bill ...

Ornette Coleman: On Human Feeling
Interview by Vivien Goldman, NME, July 1982
Ornette Coleman's harmolodics brought about the musical change of the century. After his New York comeback last year, the legendary tenor man talked to Vivien Goldman ...

Darting Into the Stratosphere
Interview by Richard Cook, NME, August 1982
Teenage trumpet major WYNTON MARSALIS lights up another ...

Kingsize Benson
Profile and Interview by Richard Cook, NME, July 1983
So just how did this work a day guitarist called GEORGE BENSON sidestep the critical vitriol of the jazz and soul purists to become one of ...

Hugh Masekela
Interview by Jack Barron, Sounds, July 1984
"THIS IS really embarrassing, we've come thousands of miles and now this happens," sighed Hugh Masekela looking at the vast blue tent-balloon Espace Balard venue in ...

Frank Sinatra: Songs For Young Lovers and other Capitol reissues
Review by Richard Cook, NME, September 1984
BECAUSE SINATRA has lasted so long, has outlived his own legend – to the point where he can make a record with Quincy Jones and apparently ...

The 'Harmolodics' Of James Ulmer
Interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, May 1985
NEUTRAL GROUND doesn't seem to exist when it comes to James (Blood) Ulmer's music. ...

Miles Davis: You’re Under Arrest (CBS)
Review by Charles Shaar Murray, NME, June 1985
THIS YEAR, Miles Davis is 59 years old. However, if it’s round numbers that appeal to you, it’s worth mentioning that 1985 marks the 40th anniversary ...

Duke Ellington: Duke 56/62 Volume One ; Duke 56/62 Volume Two ; Featuring Paul Gonsalves and more
Review by Richard Cook, NME, July 1985
...

Tony Bennett: Rebirth of the Cool
Interview by Glenn O'Brien, Spin, 1987
TONY BENNETT is cool. I have felt this way since the early '60s. Sinatra was hip, but Tony was cool. He was a swinger singer. He ...

Music Dreams Are Made Of: Ornette Coleman at Town Hall, New York
Live Review by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, July 1987
NEW YORK – Funny, the pent-up anticipation that usually wells up before a concert didn't hit me until a half hour before Ornette Coleman took the ...

Pianist Cecil Taylor Makes Poetry Of His Jazz
Profile and Interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, October 1987
"GREAT MUSICIANS are more than musicians – they are poets and spiritual forces," said pianist Cecil Taylor. "It is the sensitivity and the concept of the ...

Art Ensemble of Chicago: Ancient to the Future
Profile by John Sinclair, Detroit Metro Times, October 1988
A SMALL ARMY of instruments is what you see first – an entire stage full of saxophones, drums, gongs, percussion implements of every description, bicycle horns, ...

Chet Baker Sings and Plays From the Film ‘Let's Get Lost’
Review by Tom Graves, Rock and Roll Disc, November 1989
I AM NO JAZZ CRITIC, and there are several Rock & Roll Disc writers far more qualified to write about Chet Baker than I. But after ...

The Art Ensemble Of Chicago
Report and Interview by Don Snowden, Los Angeles Times, March 1990
"OUR MUSIC IS primarily intended to stimulate thought, to get people to make new rationales," said Art Ensemble of Chicago trumpeter Lester Bowie. "We're expanding our ...

Sonny Sharrock: A Musician With Lightning In His Hands
Profile and Interview by Mark Dery, New York Times, May 1991
Sonny Sharrock knew his route would be rocky. ...

Nina Simone: Here Comes Trouble
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, November 1991
"BE PUNCTUAL," they implored. "Be punctual, and everything should be all right." Ask about Nina Simone at her publisher's offices and you'll soon be appraised of ...

Kenny G: No Accounting For Taste
Interview by Lloyd Bradley, Q, May 1993
AS PART of last year's campaign, Bill Clinton appeared on MTV's Rock The Vote, taking questions from a studio full of young electors. ...

Bill Frisell
Profile and Interview by Jason Cohen, Creem, June 1993
SEATTLE'S MOST incendiary and intriguing electric guitarist has nothing to do with that city's rock scene. ...

Charlie Parker
Retrospective by Richard Cook, Mojo, April 1995
Four decades on from the premature death of Charlie Parker in March 1955 the world remains split between the dazzled – including fans as disparate as ...

Stan Britt: Sinatra – A Celebration
Book Review by Chris Ingham, Jazz on CD, February 1996
ON FINISHING Kitty Kelley's depressing, unrelentingly seamy His Way, you were so stuffed full of (alleged) details concerning the less admirable aspects of Sinatra's remarkable life ...

Miles Davis and Gil Evans: The Complete Columbia Studio Recordings
Review by Ben Edmonds, Mojo, October 1996
THEIR CURIOUS YET inspired partnership resulted in music of rare beauty. Ben Edmonds salutes a landmark box set that fully captures the genius of Miles Davis ...

Charles Mingus: A Musical Misfit In Black And White
Retrospective by James Maycock, The Independent, November 1997
A traumatic childhood and a dramatic life characterised the career of the bassist Charles Mingus. James Maycock looks at a documentary on a 'phenomenal musician and ...

Jaco Pastorius
Retrospective by Charles Shaar Murray, The Independent, 1998
AS JOHN LENNON proclaimed in the 1970 Rolling Stone interview which effectively announced his final break with the Beatles, "Genius is pain". What he neglected to ...

10th Anniversary Of Chet Baker’s Death
Retrospective by James Maycock, The Independent, May 1998
"WHAT’S YOUR favourite type of high?" inquires Bruce Weber towards the end of his film Let’s Get Lost. Chet Baker’s answer is unsettling. "Oh, ...

Miles Davis Quintet 1965-68: Complete Columbia Studio Recordings (Sony/Columbia)
Review by Chris Ingham, Uncut, July 1998
6 CD set of innovative, hugely influential jazz group covering ESP, Miles Smiles, Sorcerer, Nefertiti, Water Babies, Miles In The Sky and Filles De Kilimanjaro ...

The Best of Frank Sinatra: A Home Taping Special
Guide by Chris Ingham, Mojo, 1999
BECAUSE OF THE near-flawless nature of a handful of albums (Wee Small Hours, Songs For Swingin' Lovers, A Swingin' Affair, Only The Lonely), it would have ...

Diana Krall
Interview by Chris Ingham, Mojo, 1999
SO EFFICIENT, SO all-pervasive has been Canadian pianist-singer Diana Krall's rise in the jazz world (and beyond, in sales terms), an American jazz magazine offered her ...

Herbie Hancock: The Complete Blue Note '60s Sessions
Review by Richard Cook, Mojo, January 1999
THESE DAYS he's an avatar of jazz-funk, but Hancock's salad days offered a lot more than apprentice-work. Only 24 when he composed and recorded the music ...

Billie 4 Miles: A Kind Of Blue Love
Essay by James Maycock, The Guardian, February 1999
MILES DAVIS CONFESSED twice in his candid autobiography he fancied Billie Holiday. "She had such a sensuous mouth," he remarked, "I thought she was not ...

Cassandra Wilson: Fellow Traveller
Interview by Chris Ingham, Mojo, April 1999
Chris Ingham: What was the selection process for your Miles Davis tribute album Travelling ...

Billie Holiday And Lester Young: The Intimate Friendship Between Lady Day & Prez
Retrospective by James Maycock, The Independent, July 1999
IN PARIS, A COUPLE of weeks before his death on 15th March, 1959, Lester Young spoke about his friend, Billie Holiday. "She’s still my Lady ...

Jazz Club … Nice: Remembering Ronnie Scott
Retrospective and Interview by Joel McIver, unpublished, 2000
The legendary nightclub Ronnie Scott's is celebrating its fourth decade this year. Joel McIver meets manager Peter King - a man who really has seen it ...

Pharoah Sanders
Interview by Chris Ingham, unpublished, 2000
THERE IS THE aura of legend surrounding the business of Pharoah Sanders. The fez, the dashiki, the Egyptian Prince goatee and the very name conjures instant ...

Miles Davis: The Hat Makes the Man
Book Excerpt by Nick Tosches, The Nick Tosches Reader, 2000
THE WORD ITSELF is deadening: art, a devalued dollar of a word, no longer backed by meaning, as drained of worth as the politician's viability, or ...

The Beat Goes On: Charlie Watts and the Great Jazz Drummers
Interview by Jon Newey, Jazzwise, July 2000
Rolling Stone Charlie Watts is not a typical jazz drummer. His previous solo albums have touched on the legacy of Charlie Parker and his new album ...

Miles Davis and John Coltrane: The Complete Columbia Recordings 1955-1961
Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 2000
TIME SASHAYS on and Miles Davis, who was still with us only a few blinks of an eye ago is already becoming history. Hence Sony's Deluxe ...

Sun Ra: Wooze and Spazz
Overview by Eric Weisbard, Village Voice, October 2000
IN HIS FAMOUS essay "Kafka and his Precursors," Jorge Luis Borges argues that Zeno, Han Yu, and Kierkegaard, though nothing alike, all now seem Kafkaesque. "Every ...

Sonny Rollins: The Freelance Years
Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, December 2000
COLTRANE'S GREAT tenor rival gets another boxed-set ...

Bill Evans: The Piano Has Been Thinking
Retrospective by Glenn O'Brien, Gear, 2001
I HAVE FORTY Bill Evans CDs in this room and a copy of Everybody Digs Bill Evans up in the bedroom. Everybody should have Everybody in ...

Bill Evans: The Last Waltz
Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, May 2001
UNLESS YOU'RE hardline avant-garde (in which case, you'll vote for Cecil Taylor), Bill Evans (1929-1980) is the greatest jazz pianist of the post-bebop era. Classically trained, ...

The Re-Rebirth Of The Cool: Miles Davis at 75
Review by Joel McIver, Record Collector, Summer 2001
As part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of Miles Davis' birth, a classic reissue programme has begun in earnest. In the mode: Joel ...

The Great Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Or: What you don't know about Black Classical Music could be killing you
Retrospective by Glenn O'Brien, unpublished, 2002
BACK THERE during the revolution, when we called ourselves freaks proudly, rock was rocking the world. Musicians like Hendrix, Clapton, and Page, and philosophical bands like ...

In Defence of Diana Krall
Comment by Geoffrey Himes, Baltimore City Paper, March 2002
Diana Krall and Jane Monheit are better than you think. Geoffrey Himes explains why. ...

Teddy Edwards 1924-2003
Obituary by Phast Phreddie Patterson, Rock's Backpages, April 2003
BEBOP SAXOPHONIST Teddy Edwards (78) died of prostate cancer on April 20 in Los Angeles. During the '40s, he was a top draw on Central ...

Carla Bley Looks for America
Interview by Phil Mershon, Perfect Sound Forever, August 2003
THIS IS A TIME when global corporatism links a grotesque preponderance of its steel-eyed vision to the silly notion that anything produced by, for, or about ...

The World’s Greatest Bass Player?
Retrospective by Joel McIver, Bass Guitar, October 2003
HEROES COME and heroes go. Most rise to the top and stay there for a while before their star fades; a few endure for a decent ...

Sun Ra: Space Is The Place
Essay by David Stubbs, The Guardian, October 2005
"FUCK THE GHETTO! Look to space!" That, according to Wayne Kramer of MC5, in a nutshell was the message of Sun Ra, as conveyed over 200-plus ...

Mose Allison: Mose And His Muse
Profile and Interview by j. poet, San Francisco Chronicle, October 2005
MOSE ALLISON can be summed up in two words – Mose Allison. ...

Ornette Coleman
Interview by Andrew Purcell, The Guardian, June 2007
THIS AFTERNOON I will meet Ornette Coleman, the world's greatest living jazz musician. Coleman is an iconoclast's iconoclast, Lou Reed's hero, a saxophonist who plays below, ...

Herbie Hancock: Herbie Rides Again
Interview by Andrew Purcell, The Guardian, November 2008
He has enjoyed electro, pop and funk incarnations but, as Herbie Hancock tells Andrew Purcell, it's all about playing one right note ...

Albert Ayler
Retrospective by Kris Needs, Rock's Backpages, May 2009
'I must play music that is beyond this world'
– Albert Ayler ...