Us3

5 Albums I Can’t Live Without:

1

Still Life (Talking), Pat Metheny Group

This is undoubtedly my most played album ever, and has been since its release in 1987. This album has been a constant companion throughout my life, and I still love it. So many memories. A great album to listen to whilst travelling. A unique combination of jazz, Brazilian music, folk, and even country influences, all done with a deep emotional warmth. A group absolutely at the top of their game, and were spellbinding live, too. The blending of wordless vocals into the mix was a masterstroke. Keyboardist Lyle Mays was also the perfect collaborator for Metheny and their solos often blend seamlessly into each other’s, perfectly illustrated on “So May It Secretly Begin”. This album came out at the height of the “smooth jazz” phenomenon, and was often wrongly categorized as that. Anyone who thinks this is smooth jazz has got their head on upside down! I find it impossible to listen to this album at a low volume, turn it up loud and you will get it! 

2

Seven Days of Falling, Esbjörn Svensson Trio

This album redefined the sound of a jazz piano trio to me, they seemed to drag it kicking and screaming into the 21st century. So many jazz artists appear to have the attitude of “the more notes the merrier” and end up disappearing up their own backsides, but this is both complex and simple often at the same time, a brilliant trick to pull off. The subtle use of electronic effects is clever and sets this apart. This is a modern jazz album, with the emphasis on modern. I thought this would trigger more jazz artists to experiment with electronics, but it didn’t have that effect (shame!), and for that reason this still sounds unique. This is another album that I played relentlessly on my headphones whilst travelling with the Us3 band, and it still reminds me of driving through a massive forest of silver birch trees in Poland in the snow. 

3

Computer World, Kraftwerk

In my eyes the most influential band of all time. These guys didn’t just influence other artists, they influenced whole genres! And you can hear it all on this album. Hip-hop, electro, house, techno just wouldn’t have been the same without these four weird German guys. I was a 20-year-old student and DJing in a club at weekends when this came out, and the highlight of my week was always playing “Numbers” (the most wibbly track ever) at ear-splitting volume in the club! The whole album still sounds like something from outer space to me, I love it. 

4

Mosaic, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers

This album is the definition of hard bop; it’s the aural equivalent of an iron fist in a velvet glove. Listening to the title track feels like riding a wild horse, sometimes the band lean back as one, sometimes they drive forward at a furious pace. And Blakey’s 2.45 second drum solo in the middle is a tour de force. According to Wikipedia there were no alternate takes recorded—that’s because they got it perfect first time around—ha! Although the Jazz Messengers were a fluid group, this was the first recording by a lineup that Blakey unusually kept together for three years. He knew what he was onto with these cats. A must listen for anyone remotely interested in jazz. One caveat—don’t listen to the remastered version, it’s beyond me why the label felt the need to clean up the lovely crunchy touches of distortion on the original. 

5

The Cape Verdean Blues, The Horace Silver Quintet plus JJ Johnson

My favorite pianist, and my favorite album by him. Honorable mentions must go to both Joe Henderson on tenor sax here and the underrated drummer Roger Humphries, as both sound outstanding, as well as Horace of course. Skip the perky opening track and the rest is all solid gold. The dynamics in “The African Queen” are terrific, in fact, that, the beautiful “Pretty Eyes,” the wonky “Nutville,” and the smoldering “Bonita” are amongst Silver’s finest compositions—all on one album. Yet again the label cleaned it up when they remastered it (doh!), so best to find an original release if possible.