Group 3

A big part of The Soundtrack Of My Life revolved around compilations, those discs put out for promotional purposes by the record labels to showcase their rosters. It was an excellent way to learn about artists that I may have been unfamiliar with. Of all the labels, GRP did a really great job, in its hey-day, of keeping the fans apprised of what they were putting out. I purposely used the phrase hey-day, because after Verve & UMG let Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen go, the new 'suits' in charge basically took an incredibly successful Contemporary Jazz roster and drove it into the dirt; of course, these were industry professionals and consultants who knew what the Jazz fan wanted! Thank God for the internet. Anyway, in 2002 Verve released a compilation for GRP's 20th Anniversary, The Best Smooth Jazz Ever; basically it was a pile of shit - no imagination or risk taking whatsoever. But, two tracks do standout, if for no other reason than that to my knowledge, they have never been released before, except on this disc; Group 3, comprised of Richard Elliot, David Benoit and Jeff Golub. The 3 of them, I believe, toured for awhile under this moniker; the music's ok, they've all done better on their own, but I'm sure some A&R guy patted himself on the back pretty good for this one. Like I said, thank God for the internet, I know The Soundtrack Of My Life does!

Incognito Incognito

Inner Shade is one of those one-of side projects, basically, it's Incognito Incognito; another project which was the brainchild of guitarist, composer and all around talent, Jean-Paul 'Bluey' Maunick. I picked this one up in 1988 (can't believe it's been 11 years), it was a no brainer, I really liked Incognito, so when I found out this was going to released, the biggest challenge was hunting down a copy for The Soundtrack Of My Life. Ah, those pre-internet days, when you had to actually go into a record store and hopefully it carried what you were looking for. As i've written on this Blog before, one of my all time favorite compositions is the Freddie Hubbard song, Little Sunflower. I thought that it would only be appropriate to post another version of this incredibly touching masterpiece, in light of Hubbard's passing this past week. Freddie was one of the early discoveries of The Soundtrack Of My Life; although he had serious health and lip issues that prevented him from recording significantly the last decade, his work was the standard by which I measured other trumpet players; this one is for you Freddie!

Funky Flute

I love Jazz Flute! Always have; usually it's a saxophonist who doubles on occasion on the flute, but one of the all time flute masters was Herbie Mann, an artist who moved very freely amongst the various styles of Jazz. An incredible example of his exceptional musicianship is Memphis Underground, recorded in 1969 with rock guitarist Duane Allman. I'm not sure when I first heard Memphis Underground, but I have this memory of being in a bar after work, circa 1998, turning my co-workers onto this track, which was loaded into the juke box of this cigar bar we used to go to. I never had the chance to see Herbie live, and it's safe to say that he's really better known for much of the Brazilian flavored recordings that he did, but Memphis Underground is my all time Herbie Mann favorite. Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

I apologize to everyone for not posting any new stories of late, besides being very busy and somewhat distracted the last few months, I've been in a quandary as to how to post my album tracks ever since boomp3 went out of business. I appreciate all the emails and inquiries that I've received, and I promise that 2009 will bring a whole host of new posts. Since there are so many other blogs that allow readers to download the music that they are writing about, I'm only interested in posting music to listen to, so that if you like it, you can go out and acquire the tune and support these incredibly talented musicians. Hence my problem; there are numerous services that allow me to upload music, but I haven't found a site that will allow me to host my music, for listening only. If anyone can steer me in the direction that I'm looking to go, your advice would be greatly appreciated. I just feel so strongly about not only writing about my passion but also allowing you to listen to some standout tracks as well - hopefully I'll figure it out soon. Thanks and have a great year!

-jzyjohn