Finally …. Some Jimmy Raney Clips on Youtube!

Nicolai Foss

As if underscoring the exclusivity of Raney’s playing, he has been absent from YouTube until very recently. Here are “Just Friends” and “These Foolish Things,” both played in the company of Cal Collins, a very fine player but not of Raney’s greatness. The real highlight is, however, a wonderful duo with Attila Zoller, clearly a very kindred spirit. The first two clips are from 1987, and I suspect the clip with Zoller is more recent.

Jon Raney’s Jazz Forum

Nicolai Foss

One of my first great jazz guitar experiences was listening, as a young high school student, to Jimmy Raney’s talented son, Doug Raney. I remember several great concerts from around 1980, some of them in the classic “Montmartre” in Nørregade in Copenhagen, with Doug who was then in his late twenties, that is, not that distant from my own age. Doug became something of a hero to me, and I listened endlessly to his debut record, Introducing Doug Raney, which Doug cut at the tender age of 21.

I realized only yesterday that Jimmy Raney had another talented son, Jon Raney, who specializes in the piano. Jon runs Jon Raney’s Jazz Forum. For the Jimmy Raney fan, there is much interesting material. For example, here is Jim Hall on Jimmy Raney.

UPDATE: Here is the myspace page on Jimmy.