We listened to everything from Sam Cooke to Al Green to Jimmy Smith to the Beatles while growing up.

My jazz roots came from my uncle Phil King who had a group called the Phil King Dynatones that performed at Player’s nightclub and other musical venues around the area. A well-respected pianist/organist and former West Virginia radio deejay Uncle Phil turned me on to the likes of Jimmy Smith, Stanley Turrentine and Horace Silver. His band mates would drop by often to work over charts and discuss music.

I wasn’t really into jazz much as a kid. Thought it was old men’s music. I was more in to James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Taylor, the Meters and other funk and R & B groups.

My uncles Curtis Weston and Charles “Peewee” Weston, turned me on to the Beatles and Elvis Presley. Folks used to call my Uncle Peewee the Black Elvis because he played guitar, drove fast cars and loved women and Elvis.

In later years I came to appreciate jazz. It was Wes Montgomery’s “A Day in the Life” that got me hooked. When I first heard that on the radio it blew me away. I was amazed at Wes’s guitar playing because it was so lyrical and melodic. From there I went to the jazz rock group Chicago which led me to the fusion groups Weather Report, which is still one of my all-time favorites, Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever. A taste for Miles didn’t come until much later. But when Miles did come into my musical consciousness he stuck. Today I think Miles Davis is the greatest jazz musician of all time.

But enough history.

I’ve been reviewing jazz CDs and performers for the St. Joseph News-Press for several years. In keeping with the times we decided to have a blog where I could do jazz reviews in a more conversational and informal, but no less informative, fashion.

In “Street Beats” I will review new release jazz R & B gospel and some rock CDs, as well as revisit some of the great musical albums of the past. I also hope for it to be interactive if you agree or disagree with my reviews or have views of your own about a certain artist or release, feel free to post a response. From time to time I’ll also throw out random stuff like “Who’s your favorite bass player of all time” or favorite album or top 10 of the year to keep it interesting.

Here’s my first review for the site. It’s a Luther Vandross collection I’m sure not just fans but others would enjoy: