Serving fans of contemporary jazz since 1996!
These were the top selling contemporary jazz recordings 25 years ago this week, as reported by Billboard magazine.
Quincy Jones, Q’s Jook JointLegendary bassist Lee Sklar has a YouTube channel where he talks about the legion of musicians he’s worked with. He also plays his bass line on the Phil Collins videos I’ve watched.
Last week, he posted a video about a recording he played on that the audience of this site will especially appreciate. It was the 1989 album by flute player Tim Weisberg, Outrageous Temptations. According to his website, Tim is “is widely considered one of the pioneers in rock/jazz fusion.” On this recording, you’ll hear a lot of great flute and also a lot of David Benoit (who Sklar keeps pronouncing Ben-OY instead of Ben-WAH) and Russ Freeman of the Rippingtons. In addition to playing, Benoit and Freeman wrote and arrange much of the music. It’s a great throwback to their sound then.
The top ten contemporary jazz recordings from the week of Feb. 13, 1994!
True Stories, the new recording from Russ Freeman and the Rippingtons is out on June 24. I love the fun new cover, presumably done by the masterful Bill Mayer who has done every Rippingtons “jazz cat” illustration.
The band has been announcing tour dates on Twitter so you will be able to hear the new songs live at some locations around the States. Attendees at the Berks Jazz Fest have already heard some of them – check out Peter Boehi’s recap of the performance. See them from Berks playing the new “Wild Tales” – I like it!
I’ve posted the third in my series of top contemporary jazz recordings of past years. This one is eight of the best-selling artists in 1990, including the Rippingtons featuring Russ Freeman, Bobby McFerrin, Joe Sample, Dave Weckl and more. Click the image below to immediately listen and spread the word!