Cherry red (label)
02 December 2008 (released)
14 December 2008
Soooo cool.
Before the hippies there were the Beats. Cool jazzers, bearded and oh so laid back with a language that was all their own.
‘Once upon a time in the land of Oooohh Papa Dow’ ‘This jack was so square he was octagonal’ ‘Snow White, a chick who was with it all the way’ he sets the world of fairy tales, crazy enough on their own, to a hip style loaded with craaaaazy images all over a tres cool piano tinkling out King Cole’s ‘Easy Listening Blues.
He throws history and musical theory into the mix as well as some crazed music from his Purple Grotto – in his own words:
“ I started my broadcast in Studio One which was painted all kinds of tints and shades of purple on huge polycylindricals which were vertically placed around the walls of the room to deflect the sound. It just happened to be that way. And with the turntables and desk and console and the lights turned down low, it had a very cavelike appearance to my imagination. So I got on the air, and the first thing I said was, "Hi, it's Jazzbo in the Purple Grotto." You never know where your thoughts are coming from, but the way it came out was that I was in a grotto, in this atmosphere with stalagtites and a lake and no telephones. I was using Nat Cole underneath me with "Easy Listening Blues" playing piano in the background. “
Jazzbo – or Jazzbeaux – created the character from his regular radio programs in the late 50’s and early 60’s and this set collects his two albums – 1 of Hepcat fairy tales and American history which, taken in small drips, is big smile stuff with a wicked and wacked out take on the tales. The second sees Jazzbo introducing New York swing jazz and the tracks individually are great but the two halves of the CD are so different as to suggest that they should have stayed as two different discs.
No matter, just get down and groove to the daddy of tall talers clicking his thing into the blossoming day and roll with the jazz laters.
Ya Dig?
