What Jazz or Blues are you spinning?

[Tim]

Portrait In Jazz
Bill Evans Trio

[Alex_UK]

This is brilliant... Well worth your time if you haven't seen it, and actually, the music works, and is rather good, too!

Jazz Sabbath is an English jazz trio, with a fictional backstory that they are from the late sixties. The band was created by Adam Wakeman, touring keyboard and guitar player for Black Sabbath (2004–2017, 2025) and Ozzy Osbourne band member (2004–2025). (Yes, the son of Rick Wakeman.) Jazz Sabbath plays jazz renditions of Black Sabbath songs, claiming to be the original writers of those songs and accusing Black Sabbath of plagiarism.

The band first appeared in a mockumentary on YouTube in February 2020. In this short film band leader Milton Keanes (Adam Wakeman) was interviewed by actor Robert Powell about the early days of Jazz Sabbath, their cancelled debut album and the alleged theft of their songs by Black Sabbath. (It's very witty!)



This album was later released as an actual album on 10 April 2020.

Jazz Sabbath - Live ​(2020)



This, and their other studio albums should be available on your favourite streaming platforms, and well worth a listen!

[Tim]

Jazz Sabbath - Live ​(2020)

Added to my 'to do' list

[Barry]

I'm a bit confused, do Jazz Sabbath play jazz versions of Black Sabbath numbers, or is what they play totally different?

[Tim]

They don't have Jazz Sabbath Live on Qobuz Alex, but they do have 4 other albums. Trying this out now . . .

The 1968 Tapes
Jazz Sabbath





Re-imagined jazz compositions of Sabbath songs Barry from what I'm hearing now. But you would struggle to recognise it as anything other than jazz and blind I doubt you would guess the source material inspiration, unless you knew it well.

Very interesting Alex - I'd say it fits in the smooth jazz, or lounge jazz genre.

Jazz Sabbath

Milton Keanes, pianist for the British trio Jazz Sabbath, first emerged in early 2020 claiming that his group's lost 1960s album had been plagiarized by heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath. In truth, Keanes is the alias of Adam Wakeman, longtime keyboardist for Ozzy Osbourne, and he came up with the idea for his fictional jazz combo while on a tour with Black Sabbath. The project's self-titled debut, a collection of Black Sabbath songs arranged for a jazz piano trio, appeared in 2020. Two more releases followed -- 2022's Jazz Sabbath, Vol. 2 and 2024's The 1968 Tapes -- which, like the band's debut, were presented as "lost albums."

In 2013, Adam Wakeman -- son of legendary Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman -- was on a European tour supplying the off-stage keyboard parts for metal icons Black Sabbath. During a night off in Berlin, he was challenged by another Sabbath staffer to try and play the band's set on a piano in the hotel bar. Wakeman's solo piano improvisations around classic tunes like "Fairies Wear Boots," "Changes," and "Iron Man" planted the seed of Jazz Sabbath, a band whose colorful -- and entirely fictional -- backstory he fleshed out over the next several years.

Along with similarly pseudonymous bassist Jacque T'fono (Jerry Meehan) and drummer Juan Také (Ash Soan), the newly christened Milton Keanes appeared in a 2020 mockumentary claiming to be the original authors of Black Sabbath's best-known songs, which had been cruelly plagiarized from their canceled late-'60s debut album. This provided the clever PR ruse for Jazz Sabbath's self-titled debut LP, which arrived on Blacklake Records in April of that year. The group's inventive jazz arrangements of Sabbath classics fared well on the jazz charts and were successful enough to warrant a second volume in 2022. In addition to their studio work, Jazz Sabbath also began touring as a live act, playing throughout the U.K. and Europe while arranging a third "lost album." Released in 2024, The 1968 Tapes continued to foster their self-mythology and featured piano trio arrangements of classics like "War Pigs," "The Wizard," and "Into the Void."

© Timothy Monger /TiVo

[Tim]

Found it, this one's a bit more recognisable as Sabbath.

Jazz Sabbath Live
Jazz Sabbath

[Barry]

Thanks for the feedback Tim. I thought it might be jazz versions of Black Sabbath.

I don't have anything by Black Sabbath or Yes, so wouldn't have recognised any influence. Smooth jazz or lounge jazz is not for me, so I'll pass up on Jazz Sabbath.

[Alex_UK]

[Barry]

Jo-Ann Kelly

Original vinyl copy.

[Tim]

Jo-Ann Kelly

Crikey, I don't think I've ever seen Jo-Ann Kelly played on a music forum before - outstanding and it's the original album. Showing your age now Barry.

I'll raise your Jo-Ann Kelly and play this . . .

Split
The Groundhogs



Not strictly blues in the purest sense, but Blues/Rock . . . there is a connection though which Barry will no doubt spot.
I do have the LP for this, but it's playing on Qobuz at the moment.