Jay Geils Plays Jazz!
Jay Geils Plays Jazz!
From Hard Drivin' Man to Toe Tappin'
I loved The J. Geils Band from the moment I heard their first album in 1970, and their third, ‘Full House’, is still the best live rock album I’ve heard. I saw them twice, at the Lyceum in June 1972 and the Edmonton Sundown in January 1973, and on both occasions they were nothing less than sensational.
After the band split in 1985, guitarist John ‘Jay’ Geils and virtuoso harmonica player Richard ‘Magic Dick’ Salwitz formed ‘Bluestime’ and recorded two excellent albums, while Geils collected, raced and restored classic Italian cars. He inherited a deep love of swing jazz from his father and played with fellow guitarists Gerry Beaudoin and Duke Robillard in ‘The New Guitar Summit’. In 2005 he released the first of two solo albums ‘Jay Geils Plays Jazz!’, followed by ‘Toe Tappin’ Jazz’ four years later. He died aged 71 in April 2017.
Both albums are great and fit together well. They’re full of 40’s and ‘50’s jazz, swing and blues, and it’s melody all the way with a core piano trio on each and guests including horn players Scott Hamilton, Billy Novic, Doug James and Greg Piccolo.
Geils had a wonderful vintage guitar and amplifier collection and really makes the most of it, as the guitar tones are period perfect. He also plays vibes on some tracks, and on one of them, ‘One Sweet Letter from You’, he also uses his 1940 Gibson ES-250 through a Gibson EH-185 amplifier, the same set up Charlie Christian used with Lionel Hampton on their recording of the song.
I always respected and enjoyed Geils’ blues and rock playing, and hearing him play jazz took some getting used to, although in hindsight it was a logical step after the Bluestime records. He may not have been a jazz virtuoso but he plays with such enthusiasm, melody and joy it was clear that recording this music was a labour of love for him. And enthusiasm like that is infectious, so please go and listen, these albums deserve to be heard and enjoyed.