interview to Dr Lonnie Smith

I got the idea to ring and chat with DR Lonnie Smith after visiting his website and finding out about his participation at Umbria Jazz 2006. Many of his records like “Afro-Desia”, “Move Your Hand” or “Finger Lickin’ Good Soul Organ” make up much of my DJ set playlist and so for me it was a great honour to be able to have a friendly chat with a legend of Hammond Jazz and a favourite organist of mine.Lonnie Smith has been on the front line of the jazz scene since 1967. He’s collaborated with Lou Donaldson, David Newman, Blue Mitchell, Joe Lavano , George Benson, Jack McDuff , Dizzy Gillespie, Grover Washington Jr, Ron Carter, Jimmy McGriff, Leon Thomas amongst others. He’s recorded and appeared on over 70 records.He’s also well known for his work with the R’n’B and Soul greats like Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick, Etta James, The Impressions and the Coasters.DR Lonnie Smith has recently been awarded “Best Jazz Organist” 2003/2004/2005 by the Jazz Journalist Association.Today, Smith continues to play throughout Europe, America and The Far East. Keep an eye on your paper because he regularly appears and plays in small Jazz Bar venues.
As always i find an incredible humble person....


How did you start playing Jazz music?
Mine was a family of singers. In the beginning I sang in Pop groups. When, in a church, I heard the organ for the first time I was gripped by the sound of this instrument and I feel in love with it. I was also very taken by Jazz music and when I heard guys like Wild Bill Davies and Jimmy Smith, I said to myself that that was the music I had to make from that moment on.My problem was that I didn’t know how to play Jazz music, so I used the experience I had to start playing this type of music, starting from what I knew, and that was Pop music.

And so you took to the Hammond...
When I was a kid I’d always go to Art Kubera’s musical instruments shop in Buffalo, every day, like it was my job, I’d go there in the morning and leave in the evening, just to see and look at the Hammond organs.One day I found the shop closed and just as I was leaving the owner calls me round the back and tells me: ”You see that organ? Take it, it’s yours” I couldn’t believe it, it was a brand new organ that was worth a lot of money.From then on I started playing it by ear because I couldn’t read music, and by making use of my experience with Motown, Soul and Pop and what I heard from Smith and Davies. I started playing in all the Jazz Music Jam Sessions and started to get myself noticed. That man was angel for me and he completely changed my life. Even today when I see him, we talk about this thing that happened many years ago.

You’ve worked many times with George Benson amongst others. How did you two meet?
I met Benson through other people, during a Jack Mc Duff concert. George was playing with him. Jack called me onstage and Benson was taken by the way I played.At the end of the concert we got to know each other and he asked me for my phone number.After a while, I got to know that he was looking for me because he had left McDuff but had lost my number, so through Jimmy Boyd, a manager that hung out at “Smiles Paradise” club and who had also arranged for me to play with Grant Green, he was able to contact me.And that’s how I started playing with George Benson.

Tell me a story about that period...
After we’d become friends we found ourselves in his mother’s house in Pittsburgh and we went into the cellar. That day we ended up rehearsing two songs “Secret Love” and “Clockwise” and our band was born.After a while that we’d been playing here and there, some managers from Columbia heard us and signed us both up. For Columbia I recorded “Finger-Lickin’ Good Soul Organ”.

I know that you were much sought after as an organist at that time.
At that time you’d play a lot with everybody, David Newman, Blue Mitchell, Lee Morgan, King Kurtis, Lou Donaldson and Grant Green amongst others I played on many Donaldson albums up until Blue Note asked me to record my own: “Move Your Hand”, “Turning Point”, “Think!”, and “Drives”. In a few of the tracks on those albums you can hear a lot of the origins of Pop Soul like “Sunshine Superman” and “Spinning Wheels”. I then recorded with Grove Merchant up until 1976 and so on.

Which musician have you had most feeling with and created most?
During my career I have played with many musicians and continue to do so till this day. Without a doubt Donaldson is the one with which I had an extraordinary rapport, almost like a marriage. Lou and I are still very close and our friendship is incredible .

As you are still very actively playing, what do you think of this new explosion of 60’s Soul Jazz, / Boogaloo?
I’m stupefied to see that today many people and many youngsters listen to music that we wrote in the 60’s.At that time I would never have thought that our music would have such a long life. Just think, Lou and I are still playing “Alligator Boogaloo” (1967).

What are your future projects? Are you coming to Italy?
My dream would be to create a sort of resting place for Jazz musicians; many don’t have insurance or pensions. I’m playing all over, a lot; I’ll be in Italy for Umbria Jazz in July.

Hammond Organ thang

Just as you may have understood from the title this month we will talk about the hero of all grooves, the one and only Hammond organ. Born out of the fervid mind of Laurens Hammond, who amongst other things was a watch maker, this organ was planned by applying fine mechanics to a sound generator of sinusoid waves… the rest is history!! The first Hammond, the mythical B3 with a generator with tones wheels, was born in 1935 and was produced up until 1973! Nowadays, as it is natural that it should, the Hammond also has become digital, but any respectful organist always looks for the vintage type from which there comes a sound that is rougher and warmer, the original models like the ‘B3’, ‘C3’, ‘A100’, ‘L100’, etc. with an internal amplifier or even with the mythical external ‘Lesley’, famous for the horn that turns really fast (run by the pedal) which spreads the sound 360° with that effect that we all know! Us lovers of the Soul Beat know that in Jazz, Soul, Funk, Bossa, etc.. the Hammond finds a lot of space, but also in Rock, Progressive and Electronic there has been much use. The heroes of the Hammond as far as the Soul Beat goes are many but, in my modest opinion, one amongst them all results in being the greatest: we are talking about Jimmy Smith. With him we have discovered what playing the Hammond with the ‘right attitude’ really means, whether we are talking about Blues, or Jazz or R’n’B. He has made some unforgettable pieces of vinyl such as “Respect”, “I Got My Mojo Working”, “Unfinished Business”, “Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Wolf?”, “The Cat” and they have all been objects of inspiration for contemporary organists like The James Taylor Quartet, Mother Earth, Corduroy, Big Boss Men and many others. The English Hammond player Brian Auger even surprised Smith with his way of playing, enough to get him an historical exclamation from Jimmy himself on one of his albums: ‘Brian, man you’re crazy!’. Auger, with his unmistakable style, united R'n'B with Jazz and 60’s Pop Rock and with the Trinity and Julie Driscol characterised an era! His are pieces such as “Tiger”, “Black Cat”, “Indian Rope Man”, etc.., also, together with the Oblivion Express, he planted the first roots of the so called ‘Fusion’. Another great hero of the Hammond is jack McDuff who, thanks to many label changes (Cadet, Blue Note, Atlantic… just to name the bigger ones) had the opportunity of experimenting with different types of ‘McOrgan Grooves’ depending on that which the Jazz market was asking for. As I wrote above the most important labels where you will find the greatest organists are Blue Note, Verve, Groove Merchant, Atlantic, Cadet, King, Polydor and many others. Many organists have also collaborated with just as many Jazz musicians thus giving a more groovy imprint on their projects (practically 80% of the Blue Note productions between ’67 and ’70). Now I will give you some names and guide you towards, as always, the acquisition or selection of important indelible tracks from the musical history of ‘The Organized Soul Beat’, starting with the fact that the right period is always that, 1967 to 1973: Jimmie Smith, Lonnie Smith, Johnny Hammond Smith, Reuben Wilson, Jack McDuff, Brian Auger, Lalo Schifrin, Alan Hawkshaw, Jimmy McGriff, JTQ, James Brown and the Famous Flames, Marcos Valle, Ed Lincoln, Charles Earland, Henry Cane, Rob Franken Organization, Ennio Morricone (in some of his more groovy soundtracks) and many others. Always remember that, if you have any questions for me, all you have to do is send me a mail… I, time permitting, will try to answer you and also do my best to advise you. Now all that is left is for me to wish you a good Summer and to remind you to stay tuned in to The Soul Beat! Peace all over the land!

Interview to Azymuth

After long time i realize another of my dream , seen Azymuth play'n live.
As always i went there and i ask them " eu preciso de falar com vocè " they sayd " tudo bom !" and we had a chat ....
They were very kind to me more than the club owner ...
Heres what we talked that night ....


How have Azymuth changed from the times of "Samba Doido", "Crazy Samba", nightclub Caneçao, Youngsters, Milton Nascimento, Jorge Ben, Deodato, the music from the soundtrack "O Fabuloso Fittipaldi " in 1973 until now?

Now we have more maturity, we can make it different, our heart is open to the young generations and the new music... At the end the difference is the age and the head addiction! It's like a wine…

Your sound is always contemporary and authentic, what are your inspirations... We know that Bertrami worked with Flora Purim and Robertinho Silva: was this an inspiration for Azymuth?

In the beginning when we were young we were listening to a lot of Jazz Big Bands like Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington etc... Orchestras, a lot of Samba too: we put all this together, it was fantastic.

How important was the label Milestone for your success in America and Europe?
Milestone opened the Doors for the world, for the success, it was very important for Azymuth. We did many LPs with Milestones.

Which work of yours do you consider as your best one: Melo da Cuica, Light as a Feather, Azymuth, Partido novo or Telecomunication?
For me (Ivan Conti) our best work is Telecomunication, its a moment, you know, this album is a memorial time in the studio, very clear, we had the open heads, we talked, a lot of communication. We played everything perfect! This is our favourite one!

How important is the label Far Out for your modern sound?
Far Out brought the Band on the road again. This label is important because it gives us another kind of sound. Some years ago we were stopped for a few and we said "let’s get something new started" and Far Out brought the old Azymuth forward again.

What do you think about remixes producers like Jazzanova, Global Communications, Mark Pritchard, Kenny Dope and 4Hero?
Now I like it very much, in the beginning when I heard these remixes I was very excited but it was strange, we were not so ready to hear this kind of changes, we didn’t understand that at that time. Now we understandthat it’s is a new kind of idea and a new sound and we like it.

You have never stopped making music since 1972, always being up to date yet preserving your typical sound. What’s your secret?
The secret is the respect, the patience for each other, some time we fight, of course, but we always get the other way to create another sound... What’s important is the union and the respect for eachother’s opinions and ideas.

What do you think about the new Brazilian music explosion, DJ’s and producers like Marky, Patife, etc.?
There’s a lot of good music now and a lot of bad too!

One of my favourite tune is Manha from 1975, tell us something about that song.
Manha is good times! Everything fresh in our head, we were young, now we have to run like Forest Gump! Manha is a special time song, I like it too!

Azymuth

I will focus on just one group who, different to many others, have 2 not indifferent qualities: the first is that of always evolving during the 30 years of activity, maybe even creating, sounds that have become contemporary and, every time, innovative; the second, that appears to contradict the first, is that of always maintaining, whatever happened, their very own original sound. This group, formed in Rio during the 70’s, is called Azymuth. Reunited after many collaborations with various Brazilian musicians during the sixties, they were initially called ‘Grupo Selecao’, even if they also made a few recordings with the same line up under the name ‘Som Ambiente’. The definitive name came about officially in 1973 during the recording of the soundtrack ‘O Fabuloso Fittipaldi’ by the brothers Marcos and Paolo Sergio Valle, created for a documentary about the famous Formula 1 driver where, from the piece entitled “Azymuth” contained on this soundtrack, they took the name of which they are still identified even today. Ivan Conti ‘Mamão’ (drums and voice), Alex Malheiros (Baixo and voice) and Josè Roberto Bertrami (Teclados and voice) create a very typical sound that, breaking away from the classic Bossa Nova or even Samba from that period that they re-baptized ‘Crazy Rhythm’, was characterised by little instrumentation: and electric Rhodes piano and some synths, bass, drums and Brazilian percussion like the Ciuca, Berinbau or Tamburim that were used only on the first three records, in fact after a few years their percussionist died in an accident and after that they were never used any more, in memory to their friend to whom they were very close. Their true success in Brazil started in 1975 when the piece “Linha Do Horizonte” was used for a very famous soap opera then in 1976 they published another album and, in 1977, participated (the only Brazilian group to do so up until that moment) at the Montreaux Jazz Festival which opened the market to the European and American markets. In 1979, thanks also to the feedback obtained at the festival, they signed a contract with Milestone / Fantasy records (an historical American label that was used to signing up all those groups of a jazz flavour with tendencies towards Fusion or Jazz Funk) and the road was opened for their definitive consecration for Europe and America. “Light As A Feather” is the album that made them known to all and thanks to pieces like “Jazz Carnival” made them enter, apart from the dancefloors in places like Japan also, into the Guinness Book Of Records as the first Brazilian group programmed on the American radio stations for an entire year! In the eighties there followed other albums on which they changed formation and even labels, then, to follow, they went back to their original line up. Now, after thirty years and more than 15 albums, they celebrate this prestigious milestone with a European Tour that, In November, touched Italy also… In 1997 the English label Far Out, very in touch with the quality electronic and jazzy sounds, thought well of also having Azymuth as part of their stable alongside Marcos Valle (another giant of 60’s Brazilian music) for all those DJ’s and producers who are now lighting up our electronic nights by creating, at the end of the nineties together with their colleagues from Compost, this new Germanic or Anglo-Brazilian sound! There are many, in fact, collaborations that Azymuth have done or are currently doing with this new generation of producers because deep basses and 12 finger Rhodes chords has been part of their sound for years and they amalgamate perfectly to all these ‘nu productions’ and contribute towards the growth of this new sound. Those with 4 Hero, Seu Jorge and Natures Plan are just a few of these collaborations that we can define as ‘modern’ and if in them there maybe wasn’t the contribution of the ‘Crazy Sound’ of Azymuth we couldn’t begin to imagine what might have happened… The albums recorded on Far Out are “Before We Forget”, “Partido Novo” and the latest “Brazilian Soul” where Azymuth, to celebrate their thirty years, also involve high calibre musicians such as Roberto Menescal, Emilio Santiago, Marcio Lott, Fabiola, Ze Carlos and Leo Gandleman and where, in my opinion, the sound is truly incredible because it forges the ‘Brasileira’ soul with the sounds of today’s dancefloors, also the old generation with the new. Well, this focus on one of the most innovative groups on the Brazilian scene ends here: now, as always, over to you to begin searching! Peace.

stay happy forever

After long and long stories i would like to remember you dancing like this.
love

Be-Bop is Jazz !

Be-Bop is Jazz.

For some time now I have been asking myself many questions about the music that I propose and listen to… The most diffused kind of jazz is definitely that from the 50’s and the beginning of the 60’s also with some of the incredible standards, very diffused also is Jazz Rock or even 80’s Fusion. The trend of the moment, if that is what you can call it is Nu-Jazz which is also vulgarly called Lounge, that kind of redone and corrected Acid Jazz of the 90’s. Vibraphonics, Subterraneans, Quiet Boys, U.F.O., Mondo Grosso, DJ Takemura and many others had already done it all around 1993 but the people just didn’t understand! They said that it was stuff for the discos! ‘Why is it so hard to listen to different kinds of Jazz today?’, ‘everything that is in between, is it only Peterson who does it?’, ‘why don’t contemporary jazz musicians push towards Soul-Jazz or even other types of jazz like what happened abroad with the Boogaloo Investigators or New Mastersounds?’, ‘why is it always much easier to play ‘well known sure stuff’?’, ‘why do new DJ’s start off by playing Nu-Jazz / Acid Jazz without even knowing where the samples contained in their music come from?’. Well, where is jazz purism, where is the jazz culture in Italy and why have groups such as Marc 4 or Lesiman, Micalozzi and all of the Italian Librarians not had the generation recycle? What is the alternative, ‘does there really exist a Nu-Jazz that can be proposed in the clubs, does there still exist a kind of jazz culture?’, it is like saying ‘do UFO’s exist?’. That night I was asking myself too many questions. After years of Soul Beat that was what I was thinking that night, trying to lay on the table everything that was running around my head, trying to create a DJ set of alternative jazz – even if I don’t like this term – a DJ set that could ‘de-monstrate’ that there are other types of jazz. After a chat with one of the Last Poets who wrote that ‘Bop’, the continuous rhythm of the universe, must carry on ‘swinging’, everything was clear! The name must be something that united the ‘new stuff’ of the genre with the continuous rhythm of the universe, making it clear that it was about jazz. It must something that you don’t hear around, at least for some time… ‘Be-Bop’: to be bop, be in continuous rhythm or, just as it means in slang – forward, different, breaking out! This name could be the container for all jazz that isn’t standard, at least in its interpretation, it is not Jazz-Rock and above all not Nu-Jazz but ‘unconventional’ jazz, the kind that I look for. Now all I have to do is fill up the container and make sure that the contents are nice. Excluding all of the genres and periods mentioned above all that was left was for me to get looking in my favourite period which is also the one I am more expert in, if you can say that: 1967/1974 when jazz was amongst the ‘Soul Beat’ period? After finding the temporary era now I had to understand which type of jazz along with which labels etc.. I thought, seeing as the Universe is Bop and doesn’t belong to any party, religion or race my jazz should also be the same, a multi-culture jazz, open, new, swinging and groovy – practically everything that hasn’t been heard around! At this point everything was clear, the name, the era, the type and therefore: Indo-Jazz, Spiritual-Jazz, Soul-Jazz, Jazz-Oetry, Cosmic-Jazz, Hammond-Jazz, Latin-Jazz, Bossa-Jazz, Baroque-Jazz, German – Polish - Yugoslavian Jazz, White, Black or Yellow, MPS, KPM, Blue Note, Prestige, Atlantic, Tico, Black Jazz, Verve, Cenacolo, Doug Carn, Dave Pike, Lonnie Smith, Last Poets, Charlie Palmieri, Dee Felice Trio, Tamba Trio, Alice Coltrane, Dorothy Ashby, Bernard Purdie, Seguida, Indo-Jazzmen, Sun Ra. Now there is just one thing left: to start. Peace and Be-Bop all over the land.

Interview to Alan Hawkshaw

It is roughly 15 years that I delight in selecting, collecting and proposing in the clubs this sound that mixes various sounds such as jazz, Bossa Nova, orchestral r’n’b from the end of the 60’s, soul funk, oriental influences in jazz music, rare grooves, soundtracks, themes and many other kinds of music that has been produced in a range of time that goes from the middle of the 60’s to the beginning of the 70’s. As it is a rather vast subject, after many years spent amongst such sounds there has risen in me the need to define it all with just one definition… thus was born ‘The Soul Beat’, a column where I will touch on, from time to time, all of the above mentioned genres! I will start off by telling you about the so called ‘library’ music, re-discovered recently and created by labels that, giving a free hand to better and less known composers, produced themes (with the help of the cream of session men of the time) that were used as background music for radio or television spots. The labels in questions were CONROY, MONTPARNASSE 2000, DE WOLFE, TELEMUSIC, BURTON, the most famous KPM and many others, Italian also, with whom collaborated names of the calibre of Umiliani, Morricone and Alessandroni! The re-discovery came about around 94 when three English DJ’s, with their “The Sound Gallery” compilation, brought back in a big way great grooves and great composers. It was however the DJ’s from Blow Up in London who found the skein in the web by launching “Exclusive Blends” that put into evidence the KPM label, putting up the prices even to this day (and who knows for how much longer)… Think about it a KPM could cost anything up to £150! The sound was very varied and touched on easy listening, pop, jazz, Bossa, beat, jazz funk and soul but it also wasn’t rare to find some ethnic or experimental sounds. There is nothing better now than to give you a run down of some of the more significant KPM’s that I have picked up throughout Europe or the most significant composers starting off with the mythical Alan Hawkshaw, an organist who composed, together with Keith Mansfield and Alan Parker in the KPM ‘green’ or ‘1000’ series, the most costly and sought after pieces, “Move Move Move”, “Soul Organ Impromptu”, “Beat Me Till I’m Blue”, “Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde Park”, “Senior Thump” or “The Storm”, some of which are contained on a very rare and very expensive album from the Mohawks (1968 – PAMA Records) where Hawkshaw played under the The Hawk name, re-discovered in the 80’s becoming celebrated with that organ riff “The Champ” that made hip-hop history (see KRS ONE and others). Many groups today, such as Corduroy, Jtq or Big Boss Men, have clearly been influenced by the ‘KPM Big beat’, also many DJ’s and collectors search for these pieces in places such as on line auctions in an effort to enrich their own collections, to drive the floors wild and, above all, to have new samples of drums, bass and various grooves… For those who are looking for KPM I will list a few titles: The Essential KPM’s 1000 series > Flamboyant Themes Vol. I, II, III, IV, Gentle Sound Vol. I, Flute For Moderns, Accent On Percussion, The Big Beat Vol. I and Vol. II, Music For A Young Generation, The Sound Of Pop, Beat Incidental and Colours In Rhythm. The Essential Composers > Alan Hawkshaw, Alan Parker, Alan Moorhouse, Keith Mansfield, Syd Dale, Johnny Pearson, Ray Cameron, David Lindup, Johnny Hawksworth.


After a lot of researching i get in touch with Alan Hawkshaw , one of my KPM and Organ player heroes .
I decide to ask him some questions about that music , that period and other things
Alan Hawkshaw were rediscovered in the mid 90's by Blow Up's DJ's for the " Exclusive Blends " Compilations .
Hawkshaw were one of the most wanted Organists during the Library music recordings period in the 60's till mid 70's and he’s still riding now days .
He recorded more than 7000 tracks for labels like KPM , Bruton Music , Music House etc . He was the leader of the mithic band called " Mohawks " , his 60's and 70's recordings are sold today up to 300 UKP and his riffs were sampled by loads of Hip Hop bands .His style is unmistakable songs like " Move Move Move " , " The Champ " , " Beat me till i'm Blue ", "Pepsi " , "Hot Pants", " L.S.D " , "Piccadilly night ride " are now masterpieces .
I had a chat with him trying to understand more about this man wich is not so easy to get informations about

INTERVIEW TO ALAN HAWKSHAW

Lets talk about the Mohawks , how did they born and who were the Mohawks ?we have so less informations about them .

The Mohawks was a scratch session of various well known session
musicians of which I was one. There was no actual band called the
Mohawks. My name on the record is Morris Hawk. Its that simple.

Which musicians did influence you at the beginning of your career ?

Musicians that influenced me early in pre-teens would have been Fats
Waller, Benny Payne, who are both pianists. Jazz pianists continued
to influence me right into my teens and beyond including Oscar
Peterson, George Shearing, Bill Evans, E rrol Garner.

How the relationship between you and KPM started?

An introduction to Robin Phillips who was head of KPM in 1962 by Guy
Fletcher . This led to a long association with Robin through various
other library companies including Music House and Bruton Music.

How do you define the end of 60'S KPM/ Mohawks sound , R'n'B , Pop ...

The Funky sound began to change during the early seventies as other
forms of popular music began to take shape. That it has been revived
in the 21st century is a mystery to me but I am flattered that this
gendre of music has sustained itself all these years.


How the relationship with Keith Mansfield started ?


Keith Mansfield met in the mid sixties while I was still in a rock
group called The Original Checkmates. He used me on most if not all
of his recording session from the mid sixties into the late seventies.


What about the Swinging London feeling we get listening to "Move Move Move" or "Soul Organ Showcase" album . Is still London Swinging now days?

I would say that the term Swinging London applies to the sixties
period. That decade was quite different than any other decade in that
it contained the tidle wave of the Beatles and the subsequent
Liverpool sound plus people were more aware of fashion. Hot Pants,
Flower Power were all part of the culture of that time and with the
advent of boutiques in fashion streets such as Carnaby Street the
term Swinging London encompassed all these elements. It may still be
swinging today but not in the same way as the sixties.


At the Big Beat vol 1/2 recording sessions was you thinking about create music for a spot or an advertisement or to make Youngster dance ?

Big Beat had no ulterior motive other than its energetic content. It
was typical of the music of that period.


You worked with loads of musicians , touching many kind of music , also near Rock things like Rumpletiltskin or the Hawkshaw version of Hair .
How these collaborations happened ?

All the musicians I worked with were part of the London session scene
and we all met on our various day to day sessions, of which I
recorded approximately 7000 during a 13 year period.


What you think about todays Organists wich are inspirate by Hawkshaw Style ?


I am flattered that organists are inspired by my style.


Whats your feeling about knowing that KPM records like "Big Beat vol 2" costs about 200 uk pounds or more?

I know collectors are paying large sums for certain vinyl albums of
the sixties. None of this money ever reaches me by the way.


Did you ever think about a Mohawks / KPM all-stars reunion after the Jazz Cafe success , some years ago?

I'd love to do another Jazz Cafe live concert with the KPM writers
and musicians and this will almost certainly happen within the
forseeable future.

Wich label gived you more creative space ? De Wolfe , KPM , Studio2 ?

KPM was without a doubt the first company to give me free license to
pursue my library writing and playing.


Some days ago KPM all stars played again at Jazz Cafe with a lot of energy and a lot of positive response .

use it before you loose it!

in the past 4 years i use to write for some web sites like www.discoid.it , www.clubbity.net , www.jazzitalia.net , www.makesomenoise.it .
Im doing this today too , but after the " building of my Jazzmotel" i decide to concentrate all this thinking in one or 2 " containers ".
Thats why from today you will find some of my works , reviews and interviews directly inside this Motel.
the reason why i started this thing was to make the people know what i spent years to know , from my JAZID POSSE beginning in 1990 passing throught THE SOUL BEAT till BE-BOP .
You will find records reviews , thinkful thinkings and interviews made by me to artists , friends and idols like Alan Hawkshaw , DR Lonnie Smith , Brian Auger , Harvey Averne , Larry Harlow , Joe Bataan , Azymuth , Airto Moreira , Keith Mansfield and more ....
so put this Motel on your favourites and read it once a week .
Use it before you loose it .
Peace