Paul Weller used to be the singer-songwriter of The Jam, the most popular British band of the punk era. The funny thing about The Jam was that the band more or less kept punk at arm's length from the very start and sounded more like a modern version of The Who. Just before Weller took the initiative to disband The Jam in 1982, the leader became more and more fascinated by jazz, Motown and soul - a fascination that would lead to The Jam's demise and the founding of The Style Council. Pianist Mick Talbot was responsible for the jazzy streak in the songs and Weller's lyrics - Dropping Bombs on the White House - became more and more grim. After the success of the debut album Café Bleu Weller and Talbot became over-ambitious and over-eclectic, a change that caused a breach with their audience at the end of the eighties. Weller provoked a glorious comeback with his first, title less solo album (1992), followed by the classic albums Wild Wood (1993) and Stanley Road (1995). Last year, after the cover album Studio 150 (with songs by Neil Young, Bart Bacharach and Noel Gallagher), Weller released As Is Now, a collection of songs that was received as one of his better solo albums. On his last two albums he worked with a Dutch horn section, including Benjamin Herman.
