Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra

Rockinghorse

Price	£19.00
Label	Rhino
Catalogue Number	5052498345410
Release Date	02 November 2012
Format	180g Double LP, Gatefold Sleeve
Country	United Kingdom
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Jools Holland & his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra released an album back in 2010 called Rockinghorse, Jools thought this was a great one to release on vinyl but various factors at the time meant it didn't come out. Now it has been released on double 180g LP and Diverse Vinyl are the exclusive stockists!

It is a 19 track collection of classic Jools Holland compositions, interpretations and covers, with very special guest collaborators including musical icons Alison Moyet, Michael McDonald, Chas & Dave, David Sanborn, Booker T. and Allen Toussaint.

Jools Holland & his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra have become the most successful big band from Britain since their original incarnation in 1987. Constant touring around places such as Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Europe as well as the UK saw this unique group hone their truly magnificent performance skills. This album was recorded between tours!

Rockinghorse showcases an array of wonderful vocal talents all set to Jools’ inimitable piano licks and the acclaimed instrumentation of his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra. The superb and powerful voice of Ruby Turner on ‘Roll Out Of This Hole’, the soulful tones of Louise Marshall on ‘Father Time’, the big band-led blues of ‘I’ve Got News For You’ featuring Grammy-award winner Michael McDonald, the extraordinary Hammond organ / piano duet with Booker T on Duke Ellington’s ‘Blues For New Orleans’, a homage to the Big Smoke with ‘Rockney’ duo Chas & Dave for ‘London Belongs To Me’ (written by Jools and Chris Difford) and the sultry vocals of Alison Moyet on ‘The Man That Got Away’. Jazz legend David Sanborn joins Jools and the Orchestra for the soul classic ‘Mercy, Mercy, Mercy’, ska and reggae originator Rico Rodriguez performs on ‘What A Wonderful World’ and Jools reunites with Sam Brown for the lyrically shocking original 1927 Bessie Smith version of ‘’Tain’t Nobody’s Bizness If I Do’. All this plus blues and big band standards ‘Got My Mojo Working’ (with Rosie Mae) and ‘A String Of Pearls’: this album is a must for fans of Jools Holland’s extraordinary repertoire and the uplifting sound of his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.

“Nowhere else in the world would you get this array of artists all on one record,” says Jools Holland. “I feel very lucky to have been working with the world’s greatest blues, jazz and soul singers and musicians on this new album – Booker T., Michael McDonald, David Sanborn, Allen Toussaint, Chas & Dave, and of course Alison Moyet who I am taking out on tour, plus the regular members of my Rhythm and Blues Orchestra – Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and the wonderful Rico Rodriguez. We’ve got songs on here that are 90 years old, and some that have only been written within the last few months, and I’m just so proud to keep the ‘big band’ sound going so many decades on from when it first began. I am privileged to have such an extraordinary band of musicians ranging in age from their 20s through to their 70s, playing together to create our unique sound.’

Produced, Mixed and Engineered by Laurie Latham, assisted by George Latham
Additional Mixing, Engineering and Pro Tools by Ron Burrow
Recorded and Mixed at Helicon Mountain in the Pyramid Room
Mastered by Tim Young at Metropolis, London
Cut by Miles Showell at Metropolis, London
Artwork Photography: Mary McCartney