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, July 07, 2014

Floyd Morris - The ConSoul of Floyd Morris


Pianist and organist Floyd Morris (d. 1988, age 62) spent most of his time enlivening rhythm-and-blues recording sessions in his native Chicago and had a very limited career as a solo artist, waxing half a dozen singles and the album The ConSoul of Floyd Morris (Select, 1965) between 1964 and 1972.

In the early '50s Morris appeared with a group known as the Four Shades of Rhythm at the Bar-O-Music in Chicago for several years but apparently did not record with them. He moved on to join bassist Johnny Pate's trio and then vocalist Oscar Brown, Jr. Morris settled in at Chicago's studios backing artists like Gene Chandler, The Impressions and Etta James.

That brings us to The ConSoul of Floyd Morris, a fine helping of organ instrumental R&B that also features the sax of Buddy Lucas, another veteran of the studio scene. Lucas had played on hits such Why Do Fools Fall in Love by The Teenagers and Tears on My Pillow by Little Anthony and the Imperials.

Here's a sample track from the LP, which has not been re-released in a digital format.

Call Me Darling



One of Floyd Morris's most notable appearances isn't that well known. He plays piano on Soulful Strut, which was a big instrumental hit in 1968. The record was credited to Young-Holt Unlimited, formed by two former members of the Ramsey Lewis Trio, bassist Eldee Young and drummer Red Holt. The tune had begun life as a backing track for singer Barbara Acklin's Am I the Same Girl. The vocal was stripped out and Morris's piano was added and the result was Soulful Strut, which sold two million copies.

According to Robert Pruter's book Chicago Soul neither Young nor Holt appeared on Soulful Strut, which was tracked by an anonymous group of studio players. In any case, here it is.



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