Colin James and the Little Big Band

Rock and Roll did not suddenly appear from nowhere. Swing did not just disappear. In the post-war years of the late 1940s and the early 1950s, there was a lot of interesting music. Was Woody Herman playing Rock and Roll without guitars in Caledonia, 1945? Was Tiny Bradshaw playing Swing with Train Kept a-Rollin', 1952? Who cares? It's pretty cool whatever it is. This stuff formed much of my dad's collection of party records. Being 78s, being fragile, and having been packed from party to party, very few of my dad's hipster records survived. Fewer again survived my 4 and 5 year old hands.

Canadian guitarist/vocalist, Colin James, takes a trip to visit this music in the TV special below. It is obviously a journey of love. Room Full of Horns, a downsized Room Full of Blues, accompanies Colin as The Little Big Band. There are two CDs of this music.

Pt. 1 http://youtu.be/P0OftFOFAy4

Pt. 2 http://youtu.be/n7KUOHhdolI

Pt. 3 http://youtu.be/UucVpU2y_uM

Pt. 4 http://youtu.be/MirGK4aFBWI

Pt. 5 http://youtu.be/hUaDepB_gJQ

I had never heard of Colin James before these records came out but I think they're great. I think the cover picture with the archtop guitar (a German make, I think?) is what caught my eye so I bought it. I will have to watch those TV performances you posted when I get time.

I'm familiar with Colin James since I listen to Vancouver radio a lot, and the folks at Rock 101 love him. There's a great youtube video of him doing Five Long Years in the studio with my favorite DJ, Robin LaRose (I'll post the link if I can find it).

Joe

Jeff Haddad said:

I think the cover picture with the archtop guitar (a German make, I think?) is what caught my eye so I bought it.

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The archtop is German, yes - a very funky late 40s or early 50s design, I think. There was one in the display collection of one of Vancouver's better guitar shops, a store run by and for musicians, one that sadly closed its doors with the advent of EBay and CL - their supply of used gear dried up, I think. If it is the same archtop, borrowed for the photo shoot, it was unplayable, needing much in the way of help from a luthier. It had the zero fret common to a lot of European guitars. A very cool looking piece of design/art.

killdeer43 said:

I'm familiar with Colin James since I listen to Vancouver radio a lot, and the folks at Rock 101 love him. There's a great youtube video of him doing Five Long Years in the studio with my favorite DJ, Robin LaRose (I'll post the link if I can find it).

Joe

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Hi,

I went to see Buddy Guy at the Commodore, more years ago now than I care to think. Buddy had this Thor Norse-God sized second guitarist who was extremely accomplished - Buddy was incredibly generous with spotlight time, allowing this dude to take more than his fair share of time in the sunlight. After a bit, Colin James and Stormin' Norman (another local DJ) came out on stage and joined Buddy and the band - Stormin' Norman on harp and vocals. Again Buddy was extremely gracious about sharing the stage, but there was no question of who was boss - Colin on one occasion bowed to Buddy and kissed his hand. This augmented group just kept going and going and going. Buddy just kept saying how great he felt and would launch into another number. Sometime around 2:30 AM the wife couldn't stay awake anymore, and we left. The show still showed no sign of slowing down.

Here's a different version of Five Long Years, for those who might be interested. :friendly_wink:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb5zS5PhjeQ

He also does a good job with Delta Blues numbers.

Joe

If I recall, that's Reese Wynans on keys. He was on the records, too. (Edit: Wynans was introduced early in part 2)

I think James is a really good singer, too. I used to (try to) cover his version of '3 Hours Past Midnight' at blues jams.


I could use a little (a lot) less trumpet, though!

I checked out the Colin James website and he actually has an LBB III CD from a few years ago. I ordered that and his latest, 15, direct from there since Amazon didn't have III here in the states.

Thanks for the reminder of this good stuff!

There was some debate here in another thread in the Guild archtop section as to whether all guitars sounded the same or could be made to sound the same.

bluesypicky said:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's all a big sham! We've been duped. You can get any sound you want with any guitar.
I'm selling them all. But one.

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X-170AB said:

IMHO guitars definitely DON'T all sound the same!

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Keith Richards: "Give me five minutes and I’ll make ‘em all sound the same."

As one of the commentators on Youtube points out, Colin James magically makes his ES335 sound exactly like a Stat during the performance of Satellite! See Pt. 3 above. Watch for it at about 2:28. :friendly_wink: :wink-new: :tongue-new:

I've been listening to Colin James for years. Fantastic guitarist, and was touted by Clapton as being one of the best, and one of his favorites.

My CD of LBB III arrived today and to make it topical, in the picture inside the case (under the disc) Colin James is pictured holding a Guild - looks like an X170. Listening to the CD now...