Nightfly: The Life of Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen – Peter Jones

Nightfly, which claims to be a biography of Donald Fagen, tries to avoid being also primarily about Steely Dan. That the band’s name is prominently highlighted on the cover says more about marketing strategy than the intentions of the author. Throughout history there have been those whose lives have been fascinating enough in themselves whereby …

Remain in Love – Chris Frantz

It is hard for me not to express my disappointment in this volume of reminiscences by Chris Frantz, drummer and foundation member of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club. I was anticipating a fun and insightful little read but it actually turned into a tedious page skimmer. Yes, sadly many pages were skimmed. Very often …

Love Becomes a Funeral Pyre: A Biography of the Doors – Mick Wall

The life of Jim Morrison was extraordinary enough without the need for embellishment. The reality is that embellishment is part of his life story, propagated by his fans, friends and mostly, of course, Jim Morrison himself. Myth-making was part of the theatre of life he strove to create. Mick Wall attempts to position himself as …

Two Riders Were Approaching: The Life & Death of Jimi Hendrix – Mick Wall

In presenting a non-linear retelling of the life story of Jimi Hendrix with a near impenetrable freeform 'creative non-fiction' aesthetic, biographer Mick Wall predictably misses the mark by a long way. The narrative momentum is repeatedly derailed by the jarring shifts of time and place, and there is no sense in the random interpolation of …

Shuggie Otis – Inspiration Information (1974)

Possibly the greatest hidden treasure of them all. Equal parts groovy, dreamy, organically introspective and futuristic, Inspiration Information is the document of a young man who owns his inspired vision completely. Three years of seclusion was devoted to the formulation of this wondrous jazz-funk-soul artefact, barely noticed at the time of its release but now …

Ramon Morris – Sweet Sister Funk (1973)

How it comes to be that an album as faultlessly consummated as this can remain practically unknown, while similar albums of its era i.e. Stanley Turrentine’s Sugar (1970) or Freddie Hubbard’s Straight Life (1971) have become far more celebrated, can be mostly attributable to the amateurish packaging and promotional mismanagement by early 70s label Groove …

Woody Shaw – Stepping Stones: Live at the Village Vanguard (1978)

August 1978, New York City. While the world was still half deranged from over-exposure to the falsetto squeals of The Bee Gees’ hits ‘Stayin’ Alive’ and ‘Saturday Night Fever’, and queues of eager movie-goers stretched around the streets of Manhattan waiting to get into screenings of the summer mega-hit musical ‘Grease’, there was still a …

John Handy – No Coast Jazz (1960)

Texas-born altoist John Handy moved to New York City in his mid-twenties and was promptly recruited by Charles Mingus, appearing on the classic LPs Mingus Ah-Um, Blues and Roots and Mingus Dynasty all recorded in 1959. Everything Handy thought he knew about theory and performance was challenged by the maverick composer whose adventurous and demanding …

Miles Davis – Sorcerer (1967)

“Everything was worth a trial, just to see. Picasso had the curiosity of the juggler seeking the ball best suited to his hand.” Pierre Descargues “You get the right guys to play the right thing at the right time and you got a motherfucker. You got everything you need.” Miles Davis Drawing parallels between the …

Boogaloo Joe Jones – Right On Brother (1970)

Blending a soul-jazz sensibility with driving funk-rock rhythms, guitarist Boogaloo Joe Jones (Ivan Joseph Jones to his parents) tapped into a style that may have been slightly out of step with popular tastes of the early 70s but has since found a new and enthusiastic online audience who find themselves exposed to an abundance of …