Jess

Singer/guitarist Jess Roden was born in Kidderminster in England's West Midlands, and his first band was the Shakedown Sounds. In 1967, he joined the Alan Bown Set as their new lead singer. Although their records never charted nationally, he did pick up a fandom in London (and belatedly became something of a star on the Northern Soul scene) with the release of their single "Emergency 999." He remained with the Bown group through 1970, after which he formed the band Bronco, and later worked on Wildlife, the third Mott the Hoople album, and with Keef Hartley on the album Lancashire Hustler…

Back in 2012, the Jess and the Ancient Ones debut album was an essential part of what was known as the occult rock revival. The band’s progress has since then ventured beyond such sub-genres, but the debut remains a cult classic, with its triple guitar NWOBHM-influenced melodies and furious vocal delivery. This reissue adds four bonus tracks to the original album. Three tracks taken from early singles and one previously unreleased song - a cover version of Anthem by Roky Erickson. The entire album has been remastered at Orgone Studios.

Finnish six-piece Jess and the Ancient Ones pay homage to psych cultistry on their sophomore full-length, Second Psychedelic Coming: The Aquarius Tapes (on Svart), and while one might argue with the band marking this out as the “second coming” of psych…

Real jazz happens when the musicians really listen to one another. You, the listener after the fact, can hear this communication woven into the music itself. "D.A. Blues," played by Pee Wee Russell's Hot 4 with Jess Stacy at the piano, moves slowly enough for this dynamic to be spelled out as big as skywriting. "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now" works like a charm. The interplay among the four - and especially between pianist and clarinetist - is remarkable. It's emblematic of everything that Commodore Records ever stood for. The next session in the Jess Stacy chronology resulted in a fine crop of piano and drum duets…

Mixed US/UK country music band Jess and the Bandits are back with their brand new album ‘Smoke and Mirrors’. The LP is the follow up to their critically acclaimed 2015 debut ‘Here We Go Again‘.

The third installment in the Classics chronological overview of recordings issued under the name of pianist Jess Stacy traces a time line from March 16, 1951, to March 3, 1956, with recordings made exclusively in Los Angeles, CA. It opens with eight titles recorded for Brunswick by Stacy, guitarist George Van Eps, bassist Morty Corb, and drummer Nick Fatool. This quartet's marvelous integrity is strongly in evidence on Rodgers & Hart's "You Took Advantage of Me" and endures throughout each of the ensemble members' subsequent collaborations. Tracks nine through 18 were recorded for Atlantic during April 1954 by two different nine-piece Benny Goodman reunion bands under the leadership of Jess Stacy…