Best of Friends

Performer: Jools Holland
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: As the host of the BBC's long-running music performance series LATER, former Squeeze keyboardist Jools Holland regularly shares the stage with stars from many musical genres. On the long-expected duet album BEST OF FRIENDS, Holland gets to work with such outstanding performers as Lulu, Chrissie Hynde (Pretenders), Edwin Starr, Norah Jones, George Harrison, Stereophonics, Sting, Shane McGowan (Pogues), KT Tunstall, Joe Strummer, David Gilmour (Pink Floyd), the Blind Boys of Alabama, India.Arie, Tom Jones, Sam Brown, Eric Clapton, Bono, and others. By 2007, Jools Holland was a national institution, performing jazz and good-time big-band music when it was totally out of fashion. Best of Friends was yet another album in the Small World Big Band series and featured many of the highlight tracks from other albums in the series, including the original Small World Big Band, More Friends, Friends 3, and Moving Out to the Country. The album opened with one of Holland's favorites, "Tuxedo Junction," which he played alone -- well, with the help of his big-band R&B orchestra. A boogie-woogie piano and a big-band orchestra were not typical sounds heard on many albums from the mid-2000s. But then the collaborations came thick and fast, with guest stars who had appeared on his regular TV series, Later with Jools Holland, or his New Year's Eve specials, Jools Holland Hootenanny, which since 1992 had replaced the traditional Scottish Hogmanay celebrations as the only totally musical New Year's Eve show on mainstream TV. Reading like a who's who of the music business, singers old and new joined Holland playing the piano and in most cases with the big band backing them, and the album featured styles across as wide a range as could be found on any album from this time. Venerable acts included Lulu on "Where Have All the Good Guys Gone," Edwin Starr on "Snowflake Boogie," Prince Buster on the ska track (what else?) "Enjoy Yourself," and Tom Jones on "Think." Among the more contemporary artists, Norah Jones guested on the track "In the Dark," Stereophonics on a version of "First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," KT Tunstall on "Darkness on the Face of the Earth," and India.Arie on "Georgia on My Mind," a track that first appeared on Holland's country album. There was a remixed and updated version of one of George Harrison's last songs before he died, "Horse to the Water," and other highlights included David Gilmour playing a distinctive guitar on Mica Paris' "I Put a Spell on You" and Eric Clapton with Solomon Burke on "Mabel." Apart from boogie-woogie, jazz, blues, and soul, the songs ranged from the pop-ska fun song "Oranges and Lemons Again" with Suggs from Madness to a 1930s-style torch song, "Out of This World," featuring Chrissie Hynde. With a running time of nearly 80 minutes, almost the maximum that could be fit onto one CD, Best of Friends also certainly provided value for the money. ~ Sharon Mawer

Record Collector (magazine) (p.86) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "The biggest successes are mostly when Jools vamps along with veteran names, although upstarts such as KT Turnstall more than hold their own."

Long before he was the boogie-woogie piano-playing leader of the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, and the host of the BBC's LATER WITH JOOLS HOLLAND, Jools Holland found fame as the keyboard player in the original lineup of Squeeze. Linking the melodies of the Beatles with the lyrical wit of Ian Dury, Squeeze neatly straddled the gap between pub rock and new wave, and Holland was an integral part of the band's sound. However, just as Squeeze were releasing their debut album, Holland simultaneously released his debut solo EP, BOOGIE WOOGIE 78. Holland eventually took his leave of Squeeze in 1980 to concentrate on his solo musical career and his burgeoning television career.

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