The Jazz Age – Mega-Retro Roxy Music

Generally speaking I tend to like different styles of music to "know their place," as it were. As one example of this is that – although there are exceptions to every rule – I typically favor the original version of a song as recorded by its original artist(s) as opposed to cover versions.

But, having said all this...

Every now and then, something different comes along that "piques my interest." For example, I have a CD of a Black Sabbath Tribute Band playing Abba's Greatest Hits. This may strike you as an unlikely combination, but it works surprisingly well.

As a twist of a different color, I also have a copy of Black and Bluegrass, which is a bluegrass tribute to Ozzy Osbourn and Black Sabbath. Once again, this works surprisingly well. (Bluegrass is perhaps best described as a mixture of folk music, hillbilly, country and western, and jazz. It's traditionally played on acoustic stringed instruments including the fiddle, five-string banjo, guitar, mandolin, and upright bass, which are often joined by a resonator guitar and, occasionally, an harmonica.)

And, as I've mentioned before, I also have Dub Side of the Moon, which is a reggae version of the classic Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. I know, I know … if you've not heard of this, your knee-jerk reaction will be to exclaim something like "You must be joking! How could anyone possibly improve on the original version of Dark Side of the Moon?" Well, I'm here to tell you that I saw Pink Floyd play this live at the Knebworth open-air concert in 1975, and I am hard-pushed to say which is my favorite – you have to hear the reggae version to believe it – you listen to that, and then we'll talk.

All of this to say that I just heard about a new instrumental album called The Jazz Age from Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music fame. Roxy Music are an English art rock band formed in 1971. Rolling Stone magazine ranked Roxy Music No. 98 on its "The Immortals – 100 The Greatest Artists of All Time" list. They really did have unique sound – who could forget A song For Europe, for example?


Thinking about this, which would you class as your Roxy Music favorite tracks? But we digress…

In The Jazz Age, Bryan has selected 13 songs from 11 albums, from his very first release "Roxy Music" (1972) to his recent solo record "Olympia" (2010). He's rearranged these compositions and had them performed in a "Roaring Twenties" (1920's) jazz style by his very own Jazz Orchestra.

Thus far I've only heard a few snippets from different tracks on the radio, but I have to say that those snippets have left me gasping for more...

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