Blue Note

Freddie Hubbard Night Of The Cookers Vol. 2 (Blue Note 1964)

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Freddie Hubbard’s in top form. Lee Morgan’s below average. The group’s hi-voltage performance is marred by boring percussion excursions. In short, Hubbard’s 1965 live date at Club La Marchal, Night Of The Cookers Vol.2, is a mixed bag.

Freddie Hubbard - Night Of The Cookers

Personnel

Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Lee Morgan (trumpet), James Spaulding (alto sax), Harold Mabern Jr. (piano), Larry Ridley (bass), Pete LaRoca (drums), Big Black (congas)

Recorded

at Club La Marchal, NYC, on April 9 & 10, 1965

Released

as BLP 4207 in 1965

Track listing

Side A:
Jodo
Side B:
Breaking Point


Jodo starts with a haunting bass note that catapults the group into modal action. Hubbard ignites amazing, free flowing fireworks, Spaulding impressively fills the vacuum between ex-and impressionism. But then, alas, percussion jams create no end of tedium. Where to go from there? Jodo rules out an escape route and leaves one gasping for breath. It tends to be ‘loud’ bop instead of ‘hard’ bop. Breaking Point is a great Latin tune but this version is quite uneven. It makes one long for Hubbard’s previous Blue Note releases and the many classic albums he played on like Wayne Shorter’s Speak No Evil and Art Blakey’s Ugetsu.

Fellow trumpet legend Lee Morgan has a hard time following Freddie Hubbard. His off-day ruined the promise that The Cooker’s star-studded line up held. Reportedly, Morgan’s addiction to heroin took its toll considerably those days. Take into account that as a consequence Morgan didn’t own a horn and played the Club La Marchal dates on a borrowed trumpet. Plus mouthpiece.

Each song extends over twenty minutes. (same goes for Night Of The Cookers Vol. 1 consisting of Pensativa and Walkin’) That’s fine if the dynamics are in check. But they aren’t. Not a scorched meal, but shall we say, a bit overdone.

Jimmy Smith Prayer Meetin’ (Blue Note 1964)

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This is the Jimmy Smith I like the most. Not yet hindered by various concepts initiated by Verve’s Creed Taylor, which thrusted Smith into stardom. Some of those (big band) jobs were top-notch or fantastic, such as the collaborations with Wes Montgomery and Root Down, some of them mediocre, notably those that took Jimmy into singing (grunting) territory. Like Smith’s ‘hazardous-to-your-health faux pas from 1968, Stay Loose. Prayer Meetin’s the real deal: Jimmy Smith in full blues and gospel flight.

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Personnel

Jimmy Smith (organ), Stanley Turrentine (tenor sax), Quinten Warren (guitar), Donald Bailey (drums)

Recorded

on February 8, 1963 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs

Released

as BLP 4164 in 1964

Track listing

Side A
Side A:
Prayer Meetin’
I Almost Lost My Mind
Stone Cold Dead In The Market
Side B:
When The Saints Go Marching In
Red Top
Picknickin’


Fact is, Smith’s organ is a voice in itself; he don’t need no larynx. Jimmy Smith, applauded for what not, might best be described as a ‘talkin’ player. Here is a man who conveys uncluttered, basic emotions through B3 and Leslie speaker that sometimes eerily closely resemble the inflections of jazz vocals, albeit often in the tempo of a bop-oriented Speedy Gonzales.

The same thing, I might add, is true for tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, who has a really moving solo in the ballad I Almost Lost My Mind; there is a lot of ‘breath’ in his playing – maybe best described as the whispering of sweet words in someone’s ear – which assuredly gets to you. Surely these qualities make Smith and Turrentine such a good match on Prayer Meetin’, and on other recordings such as Back At The Chicken Shack as well.

Incidentally, during one prolific week prior to the session that resulted in Prayer Meetin’, Smith recorded three more albums. This way Smith fulfilled his Blue Note contract before leaving to Verve. (of course, Jimmy did make a couple of great albums for Verve; collaborations with Wes Montgomery and Root Down are cases in point.)

Jimmy Smith has a way of stimulating solo players. This is illustrated very well in Red Top, wherein Smith uses block chords and staccato, violent lines, creating fire hazard to Turrentine’s already cookin’ solo. Thereafter alarm clock attacks straight from Art Blakey’s book signal the end of the Turrentine line and Jimmy takes his place (and time) telling a story, pushing notes to the limit, utilizing a lot of repetition for further hypnotic effect.

Indeed, as a sermon Prayer Meetin’ is a redeeming exercise.

Lonnie Smith Move Your Hand (Blue Note 1969)

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A Blue Note bestseller, Move Your Hand obviously struck a chord among Hammond lovers as well as broader jazz fans. For a live engagement that centers on slow and mid-tempo grooves, this was quite an achievement. Perhaps Lonnie Smith’s greatest talent is to bring us into a trance and have us begging for more.

Lonnie Smith - Move Your Hand

Personnel

Lonnie Smith (organ), Rudy Jones (tenor saxophone), Ronnie Cuber (baritone saxophone), Larry McGee (guitar), Sylvester Goshay (drums)

Recorded

on August 9, 1969 at Club Harlem in Atlantic City, New Jersey

Released

BST 84326 in 1969

Track listing

Side A:
Charlie Brown
Layin’ In The Cut
Side B:
Move Your Hand
Sunshine Superman


Move Your Hand’s repertoire stands out as well. Smith original Move Your Hand doesn’t leave much to the imagination. On a soul jazz level its blunt erotic message fits in with the mores of James Brown’s Sex Machine or The Beatles’ Why Don’t We Do It In The Road? Lonnie Smith’s raspy voice leaves us with a big grin. (If Move Your Hand reveals a healthy case of machismo, on like-minded jam Peace Of Mind – from Live At Club Mozambique – May 21, 1970 – sarcasm has the upper hand on sardonism. Smith’s preliminary talk certainly gave that rough and funky date an unusual flavor: “I don’t take no stuff from no woman.”)

Presumably, flower child Donovan’s Sunshine Superman’s bravado, albeit LSD-driven, perfectly added to Smith’s feelings at that time. (coincidentally, Smith recorded at Club Harlem just a week prior to Donovan’s appearance at Woodstock) Lonnie Smith has that wizardly edge on a Hammond B3 that sounds like a dream. He phrases relaxed and astute, taking his time to build a meaningful story full of interesting asides and unexpected, probing little climaxes in the upper register. ‘The pocket’ seems to come natural to Smith. The organist stays in it effortlessly, which is absolutely essential for the album’s attraction.

Move Your Hand’s appeal is also in large part due to Ronny Cuber’s full-bodied, magnetic baritone saxophone. Finally, Lonnie Smith and his group transform Leiber & Stoller’s and The Coasters’ Charlie Brown into a discourse on the art of breakbuilding. Drummer Sylvester Goshay fills spaces with exciting rolls. It is a very satisfying listening experience, simultanously relaxed and intense, and everyone’s solo’s are very ‘together.’ This could be said for the record in general.

Of the sidemen on this date, only Ronnie Cuber maintained in the spotlight on a regular basis. He has been well respected as one of the great modern players of the baritone saxophone and sideman to such diverse musicians as George Benson, Eddie Palmieri and Frank Zappa. Pittsburgh native Larry McGee has been under the radar ever since. Guitarist McGee played on Lonnie Smith’s Drives. Of fellow Steel City native Goshay and tenor player Rudy Jones virtually nothing beyond the scope of Move Your Hand is known.

However, on the basis of said recording one might say these men’s groovy credentials are undisputed.

Grant Green Carryin’ On (Blue Note 1969)

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Around 1966 Grant Green’s life and career had fallen into a slump, due to a major drug problem and an alleged dissatisfaction with the music business that kept him from recording on a steady basis. This album, and how aptly titled it is, marked his comeback as a leader on the Blue Note label in 1969. It is a testimony to the funk.

MI0000074456

Personnel

Grant Green (guitar), Claude Bartee (tenor saxophone), Willie Bivens (vibes), Clarence Palmer (electric piano A1-3 B1), Earl Neal Creque (electric piano (B2), Jimmy Lewis (bass), Leo Morris (a.k.a. Idris Muhammad, drums)

Recorded

on October 3, 1969 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

Released

as BST 84327 in 1970

Track listing

Side A:
Ease Back
Hurt So Bad
I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door I’ll Get It Myself)
Side B:
Upshot
Cease The Bombing


Green manages to bring a relatively mellow touch to funk gems such as The Meters’ Ease back and James Brown’s I don’t want nobody to give me nothing. It might have something to do with Green’s soft-hued tone, that blends well with his trademark fiery, repetitive runs that keep your head spinning as if it’s become a wheel on the merry-go-round. Its lightness is also in large part due to the airy sound of Clarence Palmer’s electric piano, which production-wise is a succesful left turn away from the equally soulful but dimmer sources of Hammond Boulevard. By 1969, Grant Green had assembled a tight outfit. In the hands of New Orleans native Leo Morris (a.k.a. Idris Muhammad), whose drums sound as crisp and clear as ever, and tenor saxophonist Claude Bartee, who stands out in particular with a red hot solo in Green’s uptempo sole original Upshot, grittiness is guaranteed.

Carryin on might not have won over fans of Green’s earlier work. Yet it appealed to a new fanbase that was hip to musical and social changes and in doing so, along with a batch of contemporary recordings such as those of Lou Donaldson and Lonnie Smith, created a new vibe in modern jazz. Of course by now we know that same vibe from the mid-eighties on started a breakbeat craze that lasts well into this day.

Back then Grant Green wouldn’t have imagined this, but trying to be a business man of sorts, with a knack for popular tunes and a reputation as one of the few top guitar players in jazz, Green must have asked himself a question: why not me? If my boy (George) Benson can do it!

And who could blame him? Versatile beyond comprehension, Green pulled it off as far as being groovy is concerned and soon Grant Green records came of Blue Note’s assembly line like cupcakes again. Although, in the end, they wouldn’t give him the greenbacks he so well deserved.