Listen To:


Selected MP3s of guitar instrumentals, jazz, big band, and classic easy listening from the original vinyl.

Welcome to Guitars & All That Jazz

Welcome to Guitars & All That Jazz

Guitars & All That Jazz was a radio station that webcast via Live365 for 11 years, ending in June 2011. The playlist consisted of guitar instrumentals, jazz, big band, early rock 'n' roll, lounge music and classic easy listening.

I hope to share some of this music with you via this blog. Most of it will be taken from the original vinyl (LPs and 45s) , cassettes and the occasional commercially unavailable CD.

Here's hoping you'll find something to enjoy. Please note files are available only for a limited time.

I urge you to purchase the digital version of the albums featured, either on CD or via download, wherever possible.

Listen to the Music
There are now two music streams. Click the appropriate player to the right.
1. Guitars & All That Jazz: Five hours of the best in jazz, guitars and other instrumental gems. New songs are added weekly.
2. Tiki Shores: Music to sweep you away to a tropical isle, a South American dance floor or a bossa nova on the beach at Rio. About 4.5 hours of classic exotica music, Latin rhythms and bossa nova.
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Monday, February 27, 2012

Bill Justis - Bill Justis Plays 12 Big Instrumental Hits



Although Bill Justis worked mainly behind the scenes as a producer, musical director and A&R man for labels like Sun and Mercury, he had one superb moment of chart glory under his own name.

In 1957, Justis composed Raunchy and recorded it for Sam Phillips's Sun label. Featuring Justis's alto sax and the guitar of Sid Manker, it was Sun's all-time biggest selling instrumental, hitting No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the magazine's R&B chart.

While at Sun, Justis also was the arranger for sessions with Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Charlie Rich.

After his time at Sun, he moved on to several other labels, including Mercury, where he recorded half a dozen albums under his own name for the company's Smash subsidiary. Almost all of them contained covers of the big instrumental hits of the period, beginning with Bill Justis Plays 12 Big Instrumental Hits, released in 1962. You can listen to and download Justis's take on pianist Bent Fabric's Alley Cat from the link below.

Alley Cat

Justis, who also scored the Burt Reynolds movies Smokey and the Bandit and Hooper, died in Nashville in 1982.

If watching a spinning 45 is your thing, here's Bill Justis's Alley Cat from YouTube.






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