Finding the Keys: The Best of Jools Holland

Personnel: Louise Marshall, Rosie Mae (vocals, background vocals); Ruby Turner (vocals); Mark Flanagan (guitar); Derek Nash, Lisa Grahame, Phil Veacock, Michael "Bami" Rose (saxophone); Nick Lunt (baritone saxophone); Chris Storr, Jason McDermid, Jon Scott (trumpet); Roger Goslyn, Rico Rodriguez, Fayyaz Virji, Winston Rollins (trombone); Christopher Holland (organ); Gilson Lavis (drums, percussion).
Audio Mixers: Ron Burrow; Laurie Latham.
Recording information: Helicon Mountain, The Pyramid Room.
Finding the Keys: The Best of Jools Holland rounds up 20 highlights from Holland' new millennium boogie-woogie, sampling almost equally from his solo recordings, his sides with his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, and his star-studded duet albums with friends. Considering how Holland's records all share the same sensibility -- they're all swinging celebrations of jump blues and R&B -- they all kind of blend together, a trait that makes them ideal for a compilation like this: there's no shift in tone or sensibility, just consistent good times that represents Holland's best while offering a good indication of what can be found on his albums proper. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine