This rare December 1953 session was unusual for Terry in that his guitar accompanist was not Brownie McGhee, but Alec Seward, who had previously recorded as Guitar Slim in a duo with "Fat Boy" Hayes" (aka Jelly Belly). It's unusual only in the personnel, however. It sounds like typical Sonny Terry, as he works his way through original material, including standards like "John Henry" and other blues tunes like "In the Evening" (the song that would provide much of the basis for Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain"). You'd have to say that it's usually more interesting to hear Terry with his longtime partner McGhee than it is to hear him with Seward, but it's not terribly different. The trademark vocal and harmonica whoops, and hollers are in gear and running throughout the album, sometimes to exhilarating effect, as on the rapid "The Fox Chase (aka "Hound Dog Holler")"…
This hard-to-find Fusion recording of former Parliament and Funkadelic drummer Bill Chambers is worth searching for.
The chemistry with Scofield, Stern, saxophonist Bob Berg and keyboardist Jim Beard is obvious as the three have worked together on several sessions.
The temptation to overplay here is addressed by a strong dedication to the groove and by allowing each player ample space……
Essential: a masterpiece of Rock music
How exciting it must have been to experience the musical developments in the second half of The Sixties when bands broke with the tradition of the predictable pop and rock songs in the charts and started to experiment with longer compositions, improvisations, extended soli on a wide range of instruments and blending different genres.
Jane Getter's 2024 studio album Division World features Jane’s all-star band including keyboardist Adam Holzman, guitarist Alex Skolnick, bassist and singer Paul Frazier and drummer Gene Lake. Randy McStine (McStine & Minnemann, Porcupine Tree) also guests on vocals. Operating at the intersection of rock, jazz, singer-songwriter and metal styles and containing masterful playing and dynamic compositions, Division World is the strongest album to date from Jane Getter Premonition.
This rare December 1953 session was unusual for Terry in that his guitar accompanist was not Brownie McGhee, but Alec Seward, who had previously recorded as Guitar Slim in a duo with "Fat Boy" Hayes" (aka Jelly Belly). It's unusual only in the personnel, however. It sounds like typical Sonny Terry, as he works his way through original material, including standards like "John Henry" and other blues tunes like "In the Evening" (the song that would provide much of the basis for Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain"). You'd have to say that it's usually more interesting to hear Terry with his longtime partner McGhee than it is to hear him with Seward, but it's not terribly different. The trademark vocal and harmonica whoops, and hollers are in gear and running throughout the album, sometimes to exhilarating effect, as on the rapid "The Fox Chase (aka "Hound Dog Holler")"…