Jazz Sabbath, Black Sabbath as Instrumental Jazz

Jazz Sabbath is a band that plays jazz interpretations of Black Sabbath songs. However, the band claims that leader Milton Keanes actually wrote these songs in 1968 but was sidelined by a heart attack.

azz Sabbath (1968) were considered to be at the forefront of the new English jazz movement. Their self-titled debut album would be released on 13 Feb 1970, but on Feb 12th founding member and pianist Milton Keanes was hospitalised with a massive heart attack; leaving him fighting for his life.

As Keanes was recovering, a new band came around and stole his songs.

….When Milton was released from hospital in September 1970, he found out that a band from Birmingham, conveniently called ‘Black Sabbath’, had since released two albums containing so-called metal versions of his songs. His recalled albums had been destroyed in a warehouse fire in June 1970; leaving only a few bootleg tapes of Jazz Sabbath’s live performances as proof of existence.

Jazz Sabbath was comfortable releasing their “originals” in 2019, as enough time had gone by.

The master tapes, believed to be lost in the fire, were found in 2019. These songs will now finally be heard; proving that the heavy metal band worshipped by millions are in fact nothing more than musical charlatans, thieving the music from a bedridden, hospitalised genius.

Jazz Sabbath was created by Adam Wakeman, son of Rick Wakeman and a musician in Ozzy Osbourne‘s band. Wakeman told the Greek publication Rocking that the idea came after a show.

(translated) It came to me when I was in Berlin touring with Black Sabbath and we had a night off. I had gone for a few drinks with a friend and when I got back to the hotel, to enjoy myself with a glass of wine, I sat down at the piano in the empty hotel bar and improvised on some Black Sabbath songs in a jazz style.

Here’s a mockumentary about the band.

via The Awesomer