Ivan Boogaloo Joe" Jones - Sweetback / Confusion - Jazz Funk Acid Jazz 12
12"

Ivan Boogaloo Joe" Jones - Sweetback / Confusion


Label: Luv N' Haight
Catalog#: LH-004
Format: Vinyl, 12", Maxi-Single, 45 RPM
Record VG++

Country: US
Released: 1992
Genre: Electronic
Style: Acid Jazz

Tracklist

A Sweetback 7:40


B Confusion


In the short decade (1966-78) he recorded and performed, guitarist Ivan "Boogaloo Joe" Jones was never really given his due as an exciting, rapid-fire R&B plecterist. His sound and style clearly derived from the blues. But it was a solid understanding of rock that Jones brought to his style of jazz. The result, outlined on a handful of albums for Prestige, was a healthy mix of finger-licking funk, sweet-natured soul and infectious blues.

Born Ivan Joseph Jones on November 1, 1940, Boogaloo Joe Jones learned the guitar himself on a three-string instrument that he received as a gift from his father in 1956. He was influenced most by Tal Farlow and Billy Butler, but gravitated toward the R&B juke-joint jazz Butler was popularizing with organist Bill Doggett's popular group. Jones has lived in South New Jersey most of his life and mostly worked in and around the Atlantic City area with chitlin-circuit heroes like Wild Bill Davis, Willis Jackson and Charlie Ventura.

He made his solo debut as "Joe Jones" on Prestige Records in 1967, but earned the name "Boogaloo Joe" following a 1969 record of that title. The demeaning name was meant to distinguish him from the other Jo(e) Jones in music: Papa Jo, Philly Joe, and the Joe of the Fluxus movement. But as much as the moniker suited his style it probably straightjacketed his jazz career too. Later, he'd turn to billing himself as Ivan "Boogaloo Joe" Jones.

While jazz went through some drastic changes during the dozen years of his recording career, Jones’ sound and style stayed remarkably consistent. His twangy tone coupled catchy chordal vamps with astonishing rapid-fire single-note playing. He could handle familiar pop covers ("Light My Fire," "Have You Never Been Mellow") and ballads. But he really excelled in the jazz-funk groove and proved himself a first-rate blues player.

But every Joe Jones record contains reliably interesting covers (blues like "St. James Infirmary" and "Trouble In Mind" are the best) and percolating originals that aptly illustrate the guitarist's fretboard talents: "Right Now," "Ivan The Terrible," "Boogaloo Joe," "6:30 Blues," "Poppin," "Hoochie Coo Chickie," "Black Whip," "Confusion" and "Sweetback." These are the songs that today's club crowd discovered and celebrate as the cornerstone of "acid jazz."




Ivan 'Boogaloo Joe' Jones - Confusion (1975)


Wasting time at work dancing in my chair to this fantastic funky track - right up there with the best George Benson or Grant Green playing. Brilliant stuff






Ivan Boogaloo Joe Jones - Sweetback

some of the tastiest licks ever!