All the top Jazz news.

The Small Faces was a mod group founded in 1965 and included Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane. They were very influential in my youth and had a string of hits including Itchycoo Park, Lazy Sunday, All or Nothing and Tin Soldier.After they disbanded Steve helped form Humble Pie (1969-1975 and 1980-1981)I like Black CoffeeA very R&B tune is Thirty Days In A HoleSteve was influenced from an early age by his heroes including Buddy Holly, Booker T, Ray Charles, Otis Redding and Muddy Waters. In later life he became disillusioned with the music industry and turned his back on the big record…

The Late Great Townes van Zandt...Marie - this may be the saddest song I knowTalking Thunderbird

Lyrics:I'm a drunken hearted manmy life seem so miseryI'm the drunken hearted manmy life seem so miseryAnd if I could change my way of livin'it t'would mean so much to meI been dogged and I been driveneve' since I left my mother's homeI been dogged and I been driveneve' since I left my mother's homeAnd I can't see no reason whythat I can't leave these no-goods womens aloneMy father died and left memy poor mother done the best that she couldMy father died and left memy poor mother done the best she couldEvery man likes that game you call lovebut it don't mean no man no goodNow, I'm the drunken…

Ruthie is currently on tour with the Blind Boys of Alabama. (June 2009)Every time I hear her I feel energised.Amazon UKThe Phenomenal Ruthie FosterThe Truth According to Ruthie Foster

I'm TELLING YOU, MAN, the wold is a place.""Say, the world is a place, huh.""That's just what I'm saying."We were walking back to the car after dinner in Hyde Park, and Johnnie was in an expansive mood. He often got like this, expecially after a good meal and wine. The first time I met him, when he was still working with a downtown civic group, he had started explaining the relationship between jazz and Eastern religion, then swerved into an analysis of black women's behinds, before coming to a stop on the subject of federal Reserve Bank policy. In such moments his eyes would grow wide; his…