Remembering trumpeter and bandleader Ken Colyer, the British musician most devoted to the espousal of New Orleans jazz, born OTD 1928 in Great Yarmouth.
Two of his albums feature in my top ten of British trad jazz.
Read here: thelionandunicorn.com/2026/03/04/t...
"A reappraisal is due, which is dirty work, but someone has to do it…"
My new article on the Rolling Stones' "Black and Blue", 50 years on from its release.
#musicsky #rollingstones #article @lionunicorn.bsky.social
Read here:
#nowplaying Late night listening:
'Introducing Johnny Griffin', recorded OTD 1956 at Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack.
Johnny Griffin – tenor saxophone
Wynton Kelly – piano
Curly Russell – bass
Max Roach – drums
#jazzsky #musicsky #vinylcommunity #bluenote
Coming soon on Lion & Unicorn, my top ten albums of 1976. Quite possibly one of my only articles on music to quote from 'The Country and the City' by Raymond Williams. Expect the unexpected.
#musicsky @lionunicorn.bsky.social
“a stinker” - The Daily Herald
“probably the finest first LP ever” - NME
The debut album by The Rolling Stones was released OTD in 1964. It features in my article on the top ten British blues albums.
#blues #musicsky #rollingstones @lionunicorn.bsky.social
Read here:
![Clarence Gatemouth Brown - Down South... In The Bayou Country (1974) [Complete LP]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:fhryuzcqep3o2na7fioszhay/bafkreihkqms4gmm5hsm6ghgyknv2wua5zqjerogzdua5nx7bbvbi33df3i)
"I play blues, sure, but don't call me a bluesman. I play American and World music."
#nowplaying The superb 'Down South... In The Bayou Country' (1974) by Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. Cajun magic.
#musicsky #cajun
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA9J...
"I never play it right on the head, I like to improvise in a different way. That’s my way of feeling."
The great Henry 'Red' Allen (born January 7, 1908, New Orleans)died on this day April 17, 1967 in New York City. His music lives on here at Finlay Towers.
#jazzsky #musicsky
'Momma Don't Allow', co-directed by Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson, first shown in Feb 1956 as part of the first Free Cinema programme at the NFT. The Chris Barber Jazz Band with Ottilie Patterson at The Fishmonger's Arms, Wood Green, are featured: #jazzsky #musicsky
"The modern perception of British cinema has nothing to do with British films--merely with the business of getting more money through the box office."
Remembering Lindsay Anderson, founder of the Free Cinema Movement and the British New Wave, born OTD 1923 in Bangalore.
#cinema #film
"Jazz of the sort we play is a happy, extroverted music."
Remembering the great trombonist & bandleader Chris Barber, born OTD 1930 in Welwyn Garden City.
Barber, of course, features prominently in my article on the top ten British trad jazz albums:
#jazzsky #musicsky
#nowplaying 'Soul Stirrin'' (Blue Note, 1958) by the great trombonist Bennie Green, who was born OTD 1923 in Chicago.
#jazzsky #musicsky #vinylcommunity
Remembering Richard Kirby, best known for his rich, impressionistic string arrangements on Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left and Bryter Layter, born OTD 1948 in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire.
#musicsky
"If you're going to be a prisoner of your own mind, the least you can do is make sure it's well furnished."
Remembering Peter Ustinov, born on this day 1921 in London.
"Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light"
Remembering Spike Milligan, born on this day 1918 in Ahmednagar, British Raj.
'If you can't annoy somebody, there is little point in writing..'
Remembering Kingsley Amis, born on this day in 1922.
#books #literature #author #writing
#nowplaying 'At the Village Gate' (1961) by Herbie Mann, who was born OTD 1930 in Brooklyn.
#jazzsky #musicsky
"We feel that tomorrow we will on many occasions look to the gramophone records of the Rolling Stones who act as a mirror for today's mind, action and happenings." - Decca press release for 'Aftermath' by the Rolling Stones, released OTD sixty years ago.
#musicsky #rollingstones
Great album form a great musician. It always strikes me as near miraculous that Konitz, Desmond and Pepper could forge such distinctive voices at a time when, stylistically, Charlie Parker had the pull of a black hole.
Coming this Saturday on Lion & Unicorn, I reappraise 'Black and Blue' by The Rolling Stones, which was released fifty years ago this month.
#musicsky
"One of the great modern jazz records" - The Penguin Guide to Jazz.
#nowplaying 'Motion' (1961) by the great alto saxophonist and composer Lee Konitz, who died OTD in 2020.
#jazzsky #musicsky #vinylcommunity
#nowplaying 'Dealin'' (1974) by the great bassist Richard Davis, who was born OTD 1930 in Chicago.
#jazzsky #musicsky
Remembering one of the great conductors, Neville Marriner, born OTD 1924 in Lincoln.
He founded the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and the 1971 recording of 'The Lark Ascending' is included in my best albums for Spring.
Read here: thelionandunicorn.com/2026/04/03/s...
#classical #musicsky
#nowplaying Morning jazz
'Affinity' by the Oscar Peterson Trio
Recorded September 1962 and released on Verve in April 1963.
Excellent early 60s Peterson, with a version of Bill Evans' 'Waltz for Debby', and the bluesy 'Gravy Waltz' co-written with bassist Ray Brown.
Swingin'.
#jazzsky #musicsky
"If I should take a notion
To jump into the ocean
'Tain't nobody's bizness if I do..."
Remembering the 'Empress of the Blues', Bessie Smith, born on this day in 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Her influence is inestimable.
#jazzsky #bluessky #musicsky
"A unique blend of jazz, rock, funk, New Age, and classical..."
#nowplaying British composer and polymath Neil Ardley's 1979 classic 'Harmony of the Spheres' which is featured on my top ten Brit jazz albums (link below)
'A cosmic trip to be sure'...
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/05/17/c...
#jazzsky
#nowplaying 'Big Brass' by trumpeter Benny Bailey who passed this day in 2005.
One of Bailey's early sessions, a lovely swinging, relaxed album.
#jazzsky #musicsky
#nowplaying Soul jazz classic 'Brother Jug!' by Gene Ammons, which features 'Jungle Strut' covered by Santana on the 1971 album Santana III.
#jazzsky #musicsky #vinylcommunity
www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2gk...
“Dudes are trying new directions, and I dig it, but the avant-garde wouldn’t fit my bag. I might try a free lick here and there, but I’ll stick mostly to the Gene Ammons I know.”
Remembering tenor saxophonist Gene Ammons, born OTD 1925 in Chicago. What a beautiful tone.
#jazzsky #musicsky
Herbie Hancock turned 86 yesterday. I was offline and missed it, so tonight I'm listening to the beautiful 'Speak Like A Child' from 1968. Happy belated birthday maestro.
#jazzsky #herbiehancock #musicsky #nowplaying
