Jeff Floyd

Jacksonville, Florida, native Jeff Floyd, born in October 1965, channels the vivid imagery and sonic intensity long associated with premier Southern soul performers such as Otis Clay and Bobby Womack. His recordings stir emotions that remain vivid well after each track concludes. An early stint singing in his church choir sparked a deepening engagement with music that eventually led him to achieve fluency on numerous instruments, an ability that greatly supported his songwriting, especially on his favored instrument, the bass guitar. That instrumental command turned Floyd into a reliable session player who has backed several major figures during their live appearances. He issued material through William Bell’s Wilbe Records, yet earlier had already completed the album Changing Times, first released on his own Jeff Floyd Music imprint and later reissued by Japan’s P-Vine Records in 1993. In October 2000 he topped the bill alongside Trudy Lynn and the Total Package Band at the Narni Black Festival in Italy. Throughout the 1990s he also maintained a standing engagement with his group Jazz Jeff Floyd and the Sweat Band at the Contemporary Jazz Lounge in downtown Jacksonville, while frequently serving as an opener for prominent urban acts visiting the city, among them a two-day engagement with the Temptations on a Mother’s Day bill at Metropolitan Park.