Something new!

I am JAZZ.
My nickname comes from my obsession with a music form that contains greater versatility, more demanding technique, than most other forms out there. Talent is a must, as well as pure adventurousness. I have found one of the most interesting bands I have heard in a long time quite by accident on Myspace: Local 518, out of Florida. It has been many years since someone(s) made me sit up and really notice a jazz group like these guys do.

I found them because of one of my heroes- Jaco Pastorius. Someone asked me to be a friend, who had Jaco on the top friends list (I always look for why someone is seeking me out.) To my shock, there was another Pastorius next to Jaco.I checked him out, and found Local 518, one of the two bands he plays in. David is Jaco's nephew, and apparently that family was made to play bass guitar. Most of Jaco's kids are musicians (big surprise)but frankly, Weather Report would have trouble keeping up with Local 518.

They have recently made a record deal of some kind in Japan (I'm not surprised- they resemble Kazumi Watanabe in the attack)but I am hopeful that this nation will sit up and take notice. It has been a real thorn in my side that so many innovative bands from the US can't get noticed here, but make it ig in Europe or elsewhere. My brother's band is definitely among those, until this latest CD. In the meantime, crap and pablum passed off by the industry as music gets thrown out to the public, who, knowing no better, swallow it whole.

Listen to these guys. Open your ears and mind to what talent really means. It doesn't hurt in my book that they count among their influences Miles Davis and Mr Bungle! With that wide a mix, one can't help but find something worth appreciating!

http://www.myspace.com/local518