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, June 02, 2014

Wild Bill Davis - Free, Frantic and Funky

                                                                 (Photo from Groove Addict blog)

Before Jimmy Smith came along in the mid-1950s Wild Bill Davis (1918-1995) was considered the leading jazz organist.

Davis's original instrument was guitar and he played and arranged for the big band of Milt Larkin, a Texas aggregation that included horn players like Arnett Cobb and Illinois Jacquet. From 1937 to 1942 Davis was an integral part of Louis Jordan's band, the Tympany Five, at the height of their popularity, playing piano and arranging.

Davis switched to organ full time in the late 1940s and continued recording and performing into the early 1990s.

Free, Frantic and Funky was recorded for RCA Victor in 1965. As the title indicates it was very much in the R&B and blues vein, with titles like Hit the Road Jack, Well Git It and the standard C.C. Rider.

C.C. Rider



Besides Davis on organ the personnel on C.C. Rider includes Bob Brown on flute, Dicky Thompson on guitar and Jimmy Hopps, drums.

Free, Frantic and Funky has not received a CD or legal download release.

Here's what Wild Bill Davis sounded like when he was leading a popular organ trio in the early '50s. Things Ain't What They Used to Be was released as a two-part single (45 and 78) by Okeh in 1954.


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