Blue Shirley Scott

When it's quarter to three and there's no one in the place except you and me, drop another nickel in the machine and play some tracks from Bar Jazz, another smartly compiled entry in Verve's Jazz Club series. This 18-track collection of standards, ballads, and novelties celebrates the fine art of boozing, capturing in richly atmospheric detail the smoke, sex, and sorrow so pungent in corner bars and cosmopolitan nightclubs the world over. Toast to highlights including Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Captain Bacardi," the Three Sounds' "After Hours," and Shirley Scott's "Dreamsville."

The circumstances surrounding the recording of this album are as important as the music you will hear and enjoy. Inspired by the songbook of Count Basie, tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine and his wife of four years, organist Shirley Scott, planned on recording with a septet, and went into the studio with that band on October 12, 1963, but those sessions were scrapped. On October 14, two tracks were finished and included here, but October 21 saw the band pared down to a quintet, and the results were acceptable. ~ AllMusic

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the legendary jazz label, Impulse! Records – home to such pioneering jazz artists as John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Pharoah Sanders, Quincy Jones, and more. On May 14, as a centerpiece to its year-long celebrations, the imprint taking a look back at its first decade with the release of Impulse Records: Music, Message & The Moment – a deluxe, 4-LP box set. Housed in a museum drop-front box set, Impulse Records: Music, Message & The Moment speaks to the political, social, and spiritual elements that were omnipresent in the 60s – when Impulse! and its artists were at their creative heights. In a decade marked by protests, racial and social unrest, and the dismantling of institutions, jazz was an integral part of exploring Black identity and pushing cultural and political boundaries.

A legend of the tenor saxophone, Stanley Turrentine was renowned for his distinctively thick, rippling tone, an earthy grounding in the blues, and his ability to work a groove with soul and imagination. Turrentine recorded in a wide variety of settings, but was best-known for his Blue Note soul-jazz jams of the '60s, and also underwent a popular fusion makeover in the early '70s. Born in Pittsburgh on April 5, 1934, Turrentine began his career playing with various blues and R&B bands, with a strong influence from Illinois Jacquet. He played in Lowell Fulson's band with Ray Charles from 1950-1951, and in 1953, he replaced John Coltrane in Earl Bostic's early R&B/jazz band.

Gloria Coleman - Sings And Swings Organ (1971) {2017 Japan Mainstream Records Master Collection Series CDSOL-45209}
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© 1971, 2017 Time / Mainstream Records / Solid Records Japan | CDSOL-45209
Jazz / Soul Jazz / Mainstream Jazz / Organ

Great work from Gloria Coleman – an overlooked genius on the organ, and part of an elite group of female keyboardists that includes Shirley Scott, Rhoda Scott, and Trudy Pitts! Coleman almost never got the chance to record, but clearly had a sharpness that was honed from years in the clubs – a tight, soulful approach to the instrument that also has her working the bass pedals as strongly as the keys – and an ability to sing at all the right times, in a soul-drenched mode that's even deeper than the vocalizations of Trudy Pitts on her late 60s albums for Prestige. The group's got James Anderson on tenor, Dick Griffin on trombone, Ray Copeland on flugelhorn, and Earl Dunbar on guitar – and titles include the funky "Bugaloo for Ernie", a great version of Kenny Dorham's "Blue Bossa", Blue Mitchell's "Fungi Mama".

This CD reissue brings back an easy-listening set in which tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine teams up with his then-wife, organist Shirley Scott, in what was probably their last joint recording. The original LP program is joined by "Ain't No Way" from a slightly earlier date with similar personnel. Even on "Blowin' In the Wind," Turrentine's soulful solos uplift the material, while Scott offers light accompaniment and some gospellish ideas of her own; guitarist Jimmy Ponder also has some spots on the quintet set. ~ AllMusic