Baby Face Harrington (1935) Raoul Walsh, Charles Butterworth, Una Merkel, Harvey Stephens

Baby Face Willette - Face To Face (1961) {2007 BN Rudy Van Gelder Remaster}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 365 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 130 Mb
Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 20 Mb
© 2007 Blue Note / Capitol | 0946 3 93180 2 5 | 24-bit Remaster
Jazz / Hard Bop / Soul Jazz / Organ

Organist Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette is both a shadowy figure and something of a legend in the 1960s jazz scene. While he played with Blue Note heavyweights Grant Green and Lou Donaldson, he had drifted into obscurity by the '70s. But while on the scene, Willette made some fine music in the soul-jazz vein, and FACE TO FACE (1961) was his debut. Willette's Jimmy Smith-inspired organ pilots a combo of Fred Jackson's tenor and the aforementioned Green's ace guitar through some earnest, tasty, blues-tinged grooves. While it's no masterpiece, fans of soul-jazz should snap up FACE TO FACE while they can.

Behind the 8 Ball (1965). Behind the 8-Ball was Baby Face Willette's second album for Argo and - unfortunately - the last one he would record as a leader, for reasons that aren't well-documented. Compared to his past releases, Behind the 8-Ball is short on original compositions (only two of eight tracks), but the emphasis here is more on Willette's deep roots in gospel and R&B, two circuits he worked extensively during his pre-Blute Note dues-paying days. This perhaps accounts for the brevity of the album - only two cuts top the five-minute mark - but it also provides a chance to hear Willette at his most soulful, playing the music he grew up with…

Probably the greatest set in Baby Face Willette's all-too-slim discography, Stop and Listen matches the organist with the hugely sympathetic team of guitarist Grant Green and drummer Ben Dixon (the same trio lineup who recorded Green's debut LP, Grant's First Stand). With no saxophonist this second time around, it's just Willette and Green in the solo spotlight, and they play marvelously off of one another. As a soloist, Willette has a nimble, airy touch, and though he owes no debt to the modal style of Larry Young, he has a greater melodic imagination than many of his instrument's straight blues players…

Stop and Listen was the last session that organist Baby Face Willette made for Blue Note. He came in with guns blazing on Lou Donaldson's Here 'Tis, made his and Grant Green's debut recordings, and then this fiery trio album in May 1961. Willette was an earthy, exciting player and he, Green, and Ben Dixon would have become one of the premier organ trios in jazz had he stuck around. This great album includes three standards (one a bonus track), four originals, and Nat Adderley's "Work Song." The whole affair cooks from first tune to last.

Probably the greatest set in Baby Face Willette's all-too-slim discography, Stop and Listen matches the organist with the hugely sympathetic team of guitarist Grant Green and drummer Ben Dixon (the same trio lineup who recorded Green's debut LP, Grant's First Stand). With no saxophonist this second time around, it's just Willette and Green in the solo spotlight, and they play marvelously off of one another. As a soloist, Willette has a nimble, airy touch, and though he owes no debt to the modal style of Larry Young, he has a greater melodic imagination than many of his instrument's straight blues players…