Track Listing

1. Brick Lane
2. Newgates Knocker
3. Temple Bar
4. Canary Wharf
5. Doing The Bird Cage Walk
6. Seven Dials
7. Rotten Row Boogie
8. Wapping Steps
9. St Martin In The Fields
10. St Andrews By The Wardrobe
11. Between The Dilly And The Blue Gate Fields
12. High Street (Ken)
13. Speaker's Corner
14. Soho
15. Tranquil Passage

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50650 in Music
• Released on: 2005-01-17
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Road to Nowhere.
Jools' two previous albums `World of his Own' and `The Full Complement' had become firm favourites and so where Jools released this I rushed out expecting a third volume of contemporary big band numbers mixing Jools melodies with that of the standards from his encyclopaedic knowledge of music. It was possibly the biggest disappointment of my record buying career.

All the tracks here are instrumentals composed by Jools but not to suit his percussive Boogie Woogie styling's; it sounds like incidental music to a film that was never made. I think it a shame the soundtrack was recorded. If you're looking at this but haven't heard either `World of his Own' or `The Full Complement' then I would strongly recommend you look them up rather than this.

A minor classic
This early Jools Holland album, whilst not as good as his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra albums, is well worth getting. The best known track on this album is "Bird Cage Walk" which is the theme to the 'Later..." TV shows.

The genesis of the Rhythm and Blues Orchestra can be heard on the 2nd track "Newgates Knocker". Boogie Piano, Hammond Organ, a big brass section and burning guitar from his regular guitarist Mark Flanagan. Indeed "High Street" is on the live Rhythm and Blues Orchestra album. Rotton Row Boogie is classic boogie Woogie given Jools distinctive flourishes with Gilson providing a rocking backing.

Inside the sleeve notes there is a reference section where Jools lists the many great Pianists that influenced the recording of this album. So once you've bought all of Jools albums you can start buying all of these great artists. As he listed another 43 Pianists this should keep you occupied for the rest of your life!

Inventory of piano music
This instrumental album is a showcase for Jools Holland's keyboard playing and composition. A list of piano players in the sleeve notes makes a deliberate nod to the piano-playing lineage that Holland sees himself as continuing, and also to his own eclecticism: listed are boogie-woogie maestros like Jimmy Yancey, stride masters (Fats Walker, sic), rhythm & blues musicians like Billy Preston and jazz experimentalists such as Cecil Taylor. This range of influence can be heard throughout the album, where Holland is obviously keen to explore various pianistic effects while never relenquishing the boogie-woogie drive that underlies his musicianship. The presence of bassist Pino Palladino must have assisted this exploration. Holland is also accompanied by the stalwart rhythm section (Lavis, Swift & Flanagan) and a horn section (the Horns of Enormous Love) who were later core members of his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. While this wholly instrumental album doesn't have (nor overtly strives for) the party atmosphere of the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra albums, it gives a fine insight into the musicianship that is behind those later albums. Its worth lies in the case that it is a musicians album, with a listeners hook provided in an evident thematic interest in the geography of central London.