Jeff Golub

現(xiàn)代爵士吉他手Jeff Golub一直被看作*ooth Jazz最尖端、最大牌的樂手之一，在我看來
他就是吉他領域的Daivd Sanborn，他們雖然一個是電吉他，另一個是alto saxophone，而
輩分也有差別，但這兩位無疑是當代soul-jazz最具代表性的人物。
現(xiàn)代爵士吉他手 Jeff Golub 傑夫．葛洛布 一直被看作 *ooth Jazz 最尖端、最大牌的樂手之一。在八○年代因為幫 洛．史都華 伴奏成名以后，吉他手 傑夫．葛洛布 在1988年開始單飛，在九○年代開始采用以節(jié)奏藍調為基底，融合爵士和美式流行音樂素材的音樂走向，成為跨界，*ooth 爵士界以其品味卓著受到稱道的樂手。雖然他的音樂總是被歸類為 *ooth jazz，但是聽過他那手法相當濃烈的吉他彈奏的人，都會認為他是要更偏向靈魂，爵士取向，而具有獨創(chuàng)性,無法單純被視為背景音樂的演奏者。他其實是具有彈奏咆勃色彩爵士的演奏家，不過卻選擇較商業(yè)，現(xiàn)代都會的音樂取向，這讓他被人與 D*id Sanborn，the Crrusaders 并列，而他也不介意這樣的分類。單飛至今，只發(fā)過十張個人專輯的他（其他則是以 *enue Blue 這個團體名義發(fā)行），在這張專輯中，再次遊走在跨界和靈魂即興爵士邊緣，靠著強烈的即興獨奏，讓人對他的音樂發(fā)展進程再度側目。
by Alex Henderson
In the '90s, guitarist Jeff Golub's blend of jazz, R&B, and pop earned him a reputation for being one of the edgier, more tasteful players in the crossover jazz/NAC/smooth jazz field. Although some of Golub's recordings were played on smooth jazz stations extensively, he was quoted as saying that he refuses to play outright elevator music, and to be sure, Golub's solos give the impression that he is essentially a soul-jazz improviser at heart. The Ohio native (whose influences have included Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Lee Ritenour, and Larry Carlton, among others) is quite capable of playing straight-ahead bop; he certainly has the chops for it. However, Golub chose to focus on more commercial music and has a long résumé as a rock, pop, and R&B session player. He appreciates being compared to artists like David Sanborn, the Crusaders, Ronnie Laws, Joe Sample, and the late Grover Washington, Jr., that is, instrumentalists who can be commercial and groove-oriented but still have a jazz improviser's mentality.
Golub was born on April 15, 1955, in Akron, OH, where he grew up listening to a variety of R&B, funk, blues, jazz, pop, and rock and began playing the guitar as a pre-adolescent. In the '70s, Golub moved away from Akron to attend to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. But by 1980, he had relocated again, this time to New York City, where he was still residing 23 years later. It was in the early '80s that Golub was hired to back arena rock/hard rock star Billy Squier, and that association led to a lot of other session work. The list of major rock or R&B artists Golub backed in the '80s or '90s (either in the studio or on-stage) includes Tina Turner, John Waite, Vanessa Williams, Ashford & Simpson, Dar Williams, and former J. Geils Band vocalist Peter Wolf. In 1988, Golub was hired to back Rod Stewart, an association that lasted for eight years. 1988 was also the year in which Golub's first album as a leader, Unspoken Words, was released by the Gaia label, but at that point, he was still devoting most of his time to backing other artists. It wasn't until 1994, when Golub founded the band Avenue Blue, that playing as a leader became the guitarist's main activity. That year, Golub signed with Mesa/Bluemoon, and Avenue Blue's self-titled debut album of 1994 fared well in the smooth jazz/NAC market. Two more Avenue Blue projects were released by Mesa/Bluemoon -- Naked City in 1996 and Nightlife in 1997 -- but after that, he put the name Avenue Blue to rest. While Avenue Blue, Naked City, and Nightlife had been billed as "Avenue Blue featuring Jeff Golub," 1999's Out of the Blue on Atlantic was billed as strictly Jeff Golub. After that, Golub moved to GRP/Verve, which released Dangerous Curves in 2000, Do It Again in 2002, and Soul Sessions in 2003. A few years later, Golub made yet another move releasing Temptation on Narada in 2005. Grand Central followed in 2007.