'RETURN TO JAZZ OF LIGHTS': NOW REISSUED ON BANDCAMP!

Bill Nelson · **Joined:** Sun Apr 03, 2005 4:40 pm **Posts:** 14185

In case you missed the announcement, one of my all time favourite albums, 'Return To Jazz Of Lights' has today been re-released as a digital download on Babndcamp. For those of you who missed out on the CD release of some years ago, here's a chance for you to hear some of the very best music I've made. :wink:

Quinault · **Posted:** Tue Feb 12, 2019 8:37 pm

Bravo.

alec · **Posted:** Wed Feb 13, 2019 1:12 am

Bill Nelson wrote:

here's a chance for you to hear some of the very best music I've made.

It truly is some of the best music you’ve made.

Sometimes I forget how unique this one is.

The drumming ... those breaks, the flute ... !

... and the horn hits, the oblong chords, the chord clusters, the walking bass ...

... and I love the crooning ....

Having it in Bandcamp format has reinvigorated the listening experience.

Right now it’s Steam Radio Blues that is really knocking me over this time .

The chorus is a cool detour more than it is an anthemic projection ... or declarative pronouncement.

Chorus-as-slight-detour-rather-than-loud-declaration =

‘The past beats inside me like a second heart’ reminds me of The Love That Whirls (Diary of a Thinking Heart)

There’s some harmonica worthy of Stevie Wonder ...

Top-flight delivery on the track that was blowing my mind earlier today which was Always You. Really swinging band in that one.

The smiling percussion unit is really moving the track along ... really grooving ... smooth grooves .

I can imagine a 45 :

A side: It’s Always You

B side: Steam Radio Blues

Bill Nelson · **Joined:** Sun Apr 03, 2005 4:40 pm **Posts:** 14185

alec wrote:

Bill Nelson wrote:

here's a chance for you to hear some of the very best music I've made.

It truly is some of the best music you’ve made.

Sometimes I forget how unique this one is.

The drumming ... those breaks, the flute ... !

... and the horn hits, the oblong chords, the chord clusters, the walking bass ...

... and I love the crooning ....

Having it in Bandcamp format has reinvigorated the listening experience.

Right now it’s Steam Radio Blues that is really knocking me over this time .

The chorus is a cool detour more than it is an anthemic projection ... or declarative pronouncement.

Chorus-as-slight-detour-rather-than-loud-declaration =

‘The past beats inside me like a second heart’ reminds me of The Love That Whirls (Diary of a Thinking Heart)

There’s some harmonica worthy of Stevie Wonder ...

Top-flight delivery on the track that was blowing my mind earlier today which was Always You. Really swinging band in that one.

The smiling percussion unit is really moving the track along ... really grooving ... smooth grooves .

I can imagine a 45 :

A side: It’s Always You

B side: Steam Radio Blues

Thanks, alec, that's a fine appreciation!

paul.smith · **Joined:** Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:41 pm **Posts:** 835

......agreed.....'October Sky' is one of the most cherished listening experiences of my whole life...…I really mean that - such a brilliant track that evokes so much in my imagination....

'Velocity Dansette' is another absolute beauty..... cooks my casserole every time!!

The rest of this album is just pure perfection as far as I'm concerned.....I fell in love with the whole thing very quickly on it's release.....

Bill very kindly signed my copy a number of years ago and I will hold it dear until the end of Brexit......sorry, I mean time.... :wink:

David Too · **Joined:** Thu May 03, 2018 9:14 pm **Posts:** 230

Bill, I'm curious -- I know you tend not to look back much, but do you ever listen to your more recent albums? I'm just wondering whether your considering this one of your best albums is an appraisal from having listened to it subsequently, or your general gut feeling about it.

MondoJohnny · **Posted:** Thu Feb 14, 2019 10:28 pm

Going into it I didn't think it would be one that I liked all that much but almost immediately it became one of my very favorite BN albums. I highly reccommend this to any BBD fans trying to catch up with Bill solo work.

jdonova · **Joined:** Tue Sep 11, 2018 3:05 pm **Posts:** 12

This is one of my favorites too! Windswept and October Sky are such great songs. I would put these on my imaginary Best of Bill Nelson new band release – just kidding Bill, they are perfect just the way they are (although you never know what Dave and Theo, with maybe Steve Cook on drums, could do with these).

Other great songs on Return to Jazz of Lights are Mysterious Chemicals of Love, Velocity Dansette, Always You, and All These Days Are Gone (For Ian). Definitely one to download!

Bill Nelson · **Joined:** Sun Apr 03, 2005 4:40 pm **Posts:** 14185

MondoJohnny wrote:

Going into it I didn't think it would be one that I liked all that much but almost immediately it became one of my very favorite BN albums. I highly reccommend this to any BBD fans trying to catch up with Bill solo work.

David Too wrote:

Bill, I'm curious -- I know you tend not to look back much, but do you ever listen to your more recent albums? I'm just wondering whether your considering this one of your best albums is an appraisal from having listened to it subsequently, or your general gut feeling about it.

Mondojohhny: I suspect that the word 'jazz' in the title might have contributed to a handful of fans not giving the album a listen. Those whose sensibilities lean in the direction of fairly straight ahead rock music often see the 'jazz word' and rush to shut the door to stop those crazy jazzbos from getting in! :lol:

But many fans will recognise that jazz phrasing has been an important influence on my guitar playing since the Be Bop Deluxe days, (and even before.)

I chose the band's name because the words 'Be Bop' hinted at both jazz and rock n' roll, (as in the genre of jazz pioneered by Charlie Parker, and 'Be Bop A Lula,' the Rock n' Roll song by Gene Vincent and The Blue Caps.) The 'Deluxe' tag was added for a touch of class and to indicate that this was a slightly higher end product that we were offering! :wink:

But 'Return To Jazz Of Lights' isn't a pure jazz album, although it has 'jazzy' tints. But it also has bluesy tints, '60s lounge music tints, and, of course, my own mixing of all the colours. I think it could possibly be thought of as a Be Bop Deluxe album for the 21st Century. If the band had stayed together and continued recording, this might well be how it would have sounded in the current millennium.

David Too: I do sometimes listen to my more recent albums, though not often. I'm highly critical of my work and just try to keep moving on and learning. But some albums please me more than others.
'The Alchemical Adventures Of Sailor Bill,' 'Golden Memories Of Tomorrow' and 'Rosewood', (along with 'Return To Jazz Of Lights,') are all albums I can listen to without much squirming. And they naturally become favourites. There are some tracks on these albums which really please me, that come close to hitting the bull's eye. I don't want to sound self-aggrandising or anything, but there are odd occasions when, listening back to past work, there are times when even I am quietly amazed by what I hear. :wink:

MondoJohnny · **Posted:** Sat Feb 16, 2019 3:32 am

Spot on Bill. You have made me stop and think twice about what "jazz" really means.

It's a great album! It really is. I still find myself humming steam radio blues to myself all the time!

www.billnelson.com

'RETURN TO JAZZ OF LIGHTS': NOW REISSUED ON BANDCAMP!

Who is online