One of our favorite jazz guitarists is Steve Khan, having first heard his work while affiliated with WNMC in the ‘80s. Ten years later I heard a track called I Like the Orange Thing by the Flying Monkey Orchestra and proceeded to investigate. Featured on their terrific Back In the Pool CD, the Monkeys' lineup was a who’s who assembled by head monkey, Rob Mounsey. It included the likes of Michael Brecker, “Toots” Thielemans, Lew Soloff, and others of note.In relation to Mounsey’s impressive body of work, Khan’s name kept popping up, the two having collaborated on two CDs of their own: You Are Here and the Grammy-nominated Local Color. Apart from Mounsey, Khan is known for his work with artists such as Blood, Sweat & Tears, Steely Dan, Billy Joel, Michael Franks, Hubert Laws, Billy Cobham, Jack DeJohnette, James Brown, Maynard Ferguson, and Joe Zawinul's Weather Update. He has also played with Randy Brecker, David Sanborn, Larry Coryell, Ron Carter and Al Foster, among many others.So you're the one who bought that record...!
Rob Mounsey e-mail to Floydian Slips
May 5, 2007
Khan's interpretation of the Beatles' Within You Without You, segued into the group's Blue Jay Way, is certainly worth a listen. And there are complete samples of some of Khan's other work at his MySpace page. Captured in New York, below is a Feb. ’92 video of Khan—with Jay Anderson (bass) and Ben Perowsky (drums)—playing Wayne Shorter’s Masqualero.
In the annals of rediscovered live jazz recordings, The Suitcase,
by guitarist Steve Khan, ranks among the best in recent memory.All About Jazz.com, Feb. 26, 2008
This just in:
Dear Floydian Slips:
First, thanks so much for writing via the CONTACT STEVE page at my site. When one has been recording under their own name for over 30 years, it's hard to know just when a listener might come upon something. What I tried to do at the MySpace page was to capture a little bit of everything from almost all the time periods. Again, thanks for your kindness in sharing with me!!!Steve Khan, June 9, 2009
