Jim Mullen (born 26 November 1945) is a Scottish,

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

-born

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

guitarist with a distinctive style, like

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...

before him, picking with the thumb rather than a

plectrum A plectrum is a small flat tool used for plucking or strumming of a stringed instrument. For hand-held instruments such as guitars and mandolins, the plectrum is often called a pick and is held as a separate tool in the player's hand. In harpsic ...

Biography

Jim Mullen was guitarist with Pete Brown & Piblokto! for two albums in 1970. He then played with

Brian Auger Brian Albert Gordon Auger (born 18 July 1939) is an English jazz rock and rock keyboardist who specialises in the Hammond organ. Auger has worked with Rod Stewart, Tony Williams, Jimi Hendrix, John McLaughlin, Sonny Boy Williamson, Eric B ...

's Oblivion Express, appearing on the band's first three albums together with future Average White Band drummer Robbie McIntosh. Mullen then joined Kokomo and later toured with the Average White Band. It was while both musicians were touring the United States with AWB in the mid-1970s that Mullen met

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

player

Dick Morrissey Richard Edwin Morrissey (9 May 1940 – 8 November 2000) was a British jazz musician and composer. He played the tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone and flute. Biography Background He was born in Horley, Surrey, England. Dick Morrissey emerged ...

, and throughout the 1980s, he found critical notice as joint leader of the British jazz funk band

Morrissey–Mullen Morrissey–Mullen were a British jazz-funk/fusion group of the 1970s and 1980s. Considered one of the most popular jazz groups in London, the band was led by Dick Morrissey on tenor and soprano saxes and flute, and Jim Mullen on guitar, who ...

. Record producer

Richard Niles Richard Niles is an American composer, arranger, record producer, guitarist, broadcaster, and journalist. Biography Early years Niles was born May 28, 1951, in Hollywood. He is the son of Tony Romano, a composer, singer, and guitarist who writ ...

, who produced the band's sixth album, '' It's About Time'', later produced three solo albums for Mullen. Mullen has also played and recorded with, among others,

Mose Allison Mose John Allison Jr. (November 11, 1927 – November 15, 2016) was an American jazz and blues pianist, singer, and songwriter. He became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, both singing and playing piano. After moving to N ...

, Hamish Stuart, Joanna Eden, Tam White, Claire Martin, Mike Carr,

Jimmy Witherspoon James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues and jazz singer. Early life, family and education Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, an ...

, Dave O'Higgins and

Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the only B ...

Sinan Alimanović Sinan Alimanović (born 11 February 1954) is a Bosnian jazz pianist, organist, composer, conductor, arranger and educator. Biography Sinan Alimanović has worked with American and European jazz musicians such as Randy Brecker, Harvie S, Duško ...

, David Tughan, Jimmy Smith,

Terry Callier Terrence Orlando "Terry" Callier (May 24, 1945 – October 27, 2012) was an American soul music, soul, Folk music, folk and jazz guitarist and singer-songwriter. Life and career Callier was born in the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, and was ...

and Frank Holder. Mullen has recorded as part of The AllStars, a collective of session musicians on their

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

-produced album ''All About the Music'', alongside special guests

Jocelyn Brown Jocelyn Lorette Brown (born November 25, 1950), sometimes credited as Jocelyn Shaw, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and dance music, dance singer. She has a Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart entry solely in her name. Brown sang ...

, Hamish Stuart and Angelo Starr. In 2014, he featured prominently on the Citrus Sun album, ''People of Tomorrow'', produced by Incognito co-founder, Jean-Paul 'Bluey' Maunick. Mullen has won many British music awards including "Best Guitar" in the British Telecom Jazz Awards (1994, 1996 and 2000).

Discography

As leader/co-leader

* ''Live at Ronnie Scott's'' with Mike Carr and Harold Smith (1980) * ''Into the 90's'' (1990) * ''Good Times and The Blues'' with

and Mike Carr (1993) * ''Soundbites'' (1993) * '' Big Blues'' with

(1997) * ''Burns'' (2000) * ''We Go Back'' (2001) * ''...but beautiful'' (Bobtale, 2001) * ''

jimjam JimJam is an international children's preschool television channel operated by AMC Networks International Central and Northern Europe, which originally launched in Italy on Sky in 2006. JimJam is available across Europe and Africa. History J ...

'' with Hamish Stuart (2002) * ''Rule of Thumb'' with

Laurence Cottle Laurence Cottle (born 16 December 1961) is a Welsh bass guitarist and composer. Career His solo recordings have been mostly in jazz and jazz fusion. He was a member of the fusion quartet The Fents and appeared on their second album, ''The O ...

(2003) * ''Live in Glasgow'' with

Gary Husband Gary Husband (born 14 June 1960) is an English jazz and rock drummer, pianist, keyboard player and bandleader. He is also a composer, arranger, producer and educator. Husband was a member for 16 years of John McLaughlin's group The 4th Dimen ...

, Mick Hutton and Gareth Williams (2003) * ''Gig Bag''(2005) * ''All About the Music''(2007) * ''Smokescreen'' (2007) * ''Make Believe'' (2009) * ''String Theory'' (2012) * ''Catch My Drift'' (2014) As sideman * '' Things May Come and Things May Go but the Art School Dance Goes on Forever'' - Pete Brown & Piblokto! (

Harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

, 1970) * '' Thousands on a Raft'' - Pete Brown & Piblokto! (Harvest, 1970) * ''Benny and Us'' - Average White BandAdditional Musicians
AWB official website. Retrieved 9 August 2013. * '' The Atlantic Family Live in Montreaux'' (1977) * ''TimePeace'' -

(1998) * ''Lifetime'' -

(1999) * ''Alive'' -

(2001) * ''Cartoon Capers'' (2001) * ''The Mose Chronicles: Live in London, Vol. 2'' -

(

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

) (2002) * ''Speak Your Peace'' -

(2002) * ''Builders' Brew'' - David Tughan (OT, 2005) * ''He Never Mentioned Love'' - Claire Martin (2007) * ''People of Tomorrow'' - Citrus Sun (Dome, 2014) * '' One Fine Day'' -

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is a British Rock music, rock and blues singer-songwriter and guitarist from Middlesbrough. Known for his distinctive voice and his slide guitar playing, Rea has recorded twenty-five studio albums, ...

(

Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company (formerly Rhino Records Inc.) is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded ...

, 2019)

References

External links

Mullen's myspace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullen, Jim 1945 births Living people Scottish jazz guitarists Musicians from Glasgow Morrissey–Mullen members