Bill Jennings - Architect of Soul Jazz Bill Jennings. The Complete Early Recordings 1951-1957 (2014)

Tracklist

CD1
01. Alexandria, Virginia
02. You Came a Long Way from St. Louis
03. Stompin' with Bill
04. The Lonesome Traveller
05. Piccadilly Circus
06. There Will Never Be Another You
07. What Will I Do?
08. Billy in the Lion's Den
09. Fine and Dandy
10. Just You, Just Me
11. Down to Earth
12. May I?
13. Get Hot
14. Stuffy
15. Solitude
16. What's New
17. They Can't Take That Away from Me
18. Sweet & Lovely
19. Blue Grass
20. Soft Winds
21. Sophisticated Lady
22. Big Boy
23. 633-Knock!
24. Danny Boy
25. Darn That Dream
26. Alexandria, Virginia
27. Stomp (Stompin' with Bill)
28. Stompin' with Bill

CD2
01. Willow Weep for Me
02. Day Train
03. Glide On
04. Three Little Words
05. Have You Ever Had the Blues
06. Better Ask Somebody
07. Sea Breeze
08. A Good 'Un
09. Easy Living
10. Nature Boy
11. Ja-Da
12. Angel Eyes
13. You Don't Know What Love Is
14. It Ain't Necessarily So / Summertime
15. Answer Me My Love
16. What Is This Thing Called Love
17. It's Easy to Remember
18. One for My Baby
19. You Go to My Head
20. Mood Indigo
21. Wishbone
22. Blues in My Heart
23. Roses of Picardy
24. Down Boy

Although underappreciated by the public during his lifetime, guitarist Bill Jennings was much admired by fellow musicians, including Louis Jordan, Bill Doggett, and Willis Jackson (all of whom employed him) and B.B. King (who cites Jennings as one of his favorites). King called him a "daring player, both rhythmically and technically... because he would start a groove to going, and then whatever it takes to keep that groove going, he would do it."

The Indianapolis picker's music was rediscovered in the Nineties by a new generation of guitarists, including Junior Watson, Duke Robillard, and Rusty Zinn, who have incorporated elements of Jennings' lean, swinging approach into their blues performances. The reissue of these rare recordings for the Gotham and King labels should help to enhance Jennings' standing in the public's pantheon of great jazz and blues guitar players.

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