Welcome to a new edition of the Neon Jazz interview series featuring jazz bassist and composer Mighty Joe Belson. From his base in Berkeley, California, we dive into his new 2025 CD Reinventing the Wheel, his musical beginnings in New York City, and his late start in jazz. Along with his band The Doodle Cats, Mighty Joe Belson taps into our collective sense of nostalgia, creating music that honors the past without trying to reinvent it.
Recorded live in a small room with no overdubs, Reinventing the Wheel embraces the spirit of classic recording sessions from jazz’s golden era. The album presents original compositions inspired by familiar jazz standards, written to evoke the sound and feel of the iconic recordings of the 1950s and 1960s. Belson’s musical journey spans rock, metal, jazz, and orchestral music, and his deep commitment to storytelling shines through instrumental compositions that capture the full spectrum of human emotion—serious or whimsical, profound or playful—entirely without vocals and beyond words. The Doodle Cats channel the timeless energy of classic jazz with warmth, swing, and authenticity. Dig this story.
Get the album: https://mightyjoebelson.bandcamp.com/
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