Paul Weller’s favourite jazz albums: “Its greatness inspires me”
Being a master of poeticism often comes with the innate ability to spot the poetic in the everyday. As a musician, Paul Weller has demonstrated this capability again and again, both in the lyrical brilliance of songs like ‘That’s Entertainment’, ‘Down In The Tube Station At Midnight’ and ‘Town Called Malice’, and the melodic charm he holds within his vocalisation.
Weller’s poeticism stems from many inspirations, but it’s hard to ignore the jazz sensibilities that have permeated his sound throughout his career when discussing such characterisations. Poeticism and jazz have been closely interlinked since its genesis, or as soon as it started to become an entity more aligned with imaginative or emotional stylings as a means of reflecting identity and culture.
Since his start, Weller has incorporated jazz sensibilities into his work in subtle ways, but this became more blatant when he embarked on solo projects and was able to explore his jazz influences more freely. Throughout the 1990s, albums like Wild Wood and Stanley Road marked a departure from his earlier work with The Jam and The Style Council, moving towards a more eclectic and mature sound that included jazz.
Even his work within The Style Council appeared jazz-tinged with their incorporation of a variety of styles that appeared different from the punk and new wave influences of The Jam, particularly with songs like ‘Long Hot Summer’, a track which not only enforced its pop-jazz feel into the dark wave walls of the 1980s but also incidentally ended up soundtracking one of the hottest British summers on record.
Aside from Weller’s more obvious influences, like the alternative rock sounds of The Kinks and the Californian surf grooves of The Beach Boys, Weller’s jazz favourites include some of the most celebrated virtuosos on record, including John and Alice Coltrane. Discussing the former’s 1965 classic A Love Supreme, he told Entertainment Weekly it was more than just a magnificent album, explaining, “It was his prayer, really, and it just has a very spiritual sound. Its greatness inspires me.”
Alice Coltrane released Journey in Satchidananda four years after her husband’s death, swapping her earlier, more personalised approach for one influenced by Indian yoga guru Swami Satchidananda Saraswati, whom she became close with after studying under him. “It follows what John was doing toward the end of his life, exploring Eastern scales and North African sounds and the Indian modal thing,” Weller explained. “A really beautiful record.”
Going back some years, Charles Mingus’ Oh Yeah featured the jazz bassist branching out and playing the piano throughout the recordings, while three of the cuts incorporated his singing, resulting in a more emotive and immersive experience than his previous works. ”Apart from being a great musician, he’s an amazing composer,” Weller said. “He manages to combine church and funk and avant-garde.”
Paul Weller’s favourite jazz albums:
- A Love Supreme – John Coltrane
- Journey in Satchidananda – Alice Coltrane
- Oh Yeah – Charles Mingus
