A popular yet underrated tenor saxophonist, Jimmy Forrest is featured in several different settings on this 1998 CD reissue. Forrest matches wits with fellow tenors King Curtis and Oliver Nelson on "Soul Street" (his opening phrase is a classic), plays three standards (including an effective "Sonny Boy") with a combo that includes pianist Hugh Lawson and is featured on "I Wanna Blow, Blow, Blow" with a nonet also featuring trombonist Buster Cooper.
20 Original albums on 10 CDs! King Curtis, Illinois Jacquet, Gene Ammons, Shirley Scott, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Roland Kirk and more!
The tenor sax was to Rhythm & Blues-hits of the 40s and 50s, what the guitar went on to become to RocknRoll. Put on an R&B-single from that era and you will most likely hear a tenor sax break or solo. Eventually, the tenor players stepped out to make records under their own name. These Soul Tenors were expressing themselves by honkin, shoutin, riffin, riding high on a single note or barking out a guttural howl, as Ted Gioia described it in The History of Jazz, all the while, carrying the moan in their tone, according to Cannonball Adderley…
Larry Young, one of the most significant jazz organists to emerge after the rise of Jimmy Smith, is heard on this limited-edition six-CD set at the peak of his creativity. Formerly available as nine LPs, the set includes the original Larry Young albums Into Somethin', Unity, Of Love and Peace, Contrasts, Heaven on Earth, and Mother Ship, while drawing from the compilations 40 Years of Jazz, The History of Blue Note (Dutch), The World of Jazz Organ (Japanese), and The Blue Note 50th Anniversary Collection Volume Two: The Jazz Message, and also including guitarist Grant Green's Talkin' About, Street of Dreams, and I Want to Hold Your Hand.
Between 1995 and 2004, Detroit saxophonist James Carter released several conceptual discs: a salute to Django Reinhardt (Chasin' the Gypsy), electric-era Miles Davis (Layin' in the Cut), jazz ballads (Real Quiet Storm), and a lush Billie Holiday tribute (Gardenias for Lady Day). With the release of each disc, the unavoidable question remained: would Carter ever put out another straight-ahead session in the vein of his early-'90s recordings JC on the Set and Jurassic Classics? Happily, Live at Baker's Keyboard Lounge makes up for lost time. Carter and an amazing array of musicians took flight for three nights in June 2001 at Baker's in Detroit, featuring guest appearances by David Murray and Johnny Griffin alongside fellow Motor City natives Franz Jackson, Kenny Cox, Dwight Adams, Larry Smith, and Gerard Gibbs.
Some stellar stuff in there, and other bits that are a bit more on the forgettable side of things. Even though Young's output was starting to be a bit inconsistent, he was still very much trailblazing and this CD is nonetheless an important document; This was to be his last complete album session before his untimely passing at age 38, and it shows the maverick organ player charting a course for the funkier and electrified side of things. This CD was only made available in Japan, as a part of the "Legends Of Cosmic Jazz Funk" paper sleeve series.
After the success of the Yellow Cube and the Black Box, the 3rd box will once again travel the musical planet Nova in all directions and at all times since the 50s.
Quite possibly the greatest Larry Young album of the post-Blue Note years – and a massive bit of funk that totally redefines his sound! Larry's working here with his hip group Fuel – an ensemble that features Laura Logan on lead vocals, giving the tunes a real focus through her lyrics – and letting them pack a bit more punch too, since her voice sounds a lot like Betty Davis at the time! Larry's keyboards are forceful, but never too over the top – and he's notched things down a bit to focus on the overall groove of the set – still keeping things adventurous on the keys, but also working in a mode that's much more heavily jazz funk! The album's one of THE essential electric jazz sets of the 70s – and features the classic break cut "Turn Out the Lights" – plus other great tracks that include "Floating", "Fuel for the Fire", "I Ching", "H+J=B (Hustle + Jam = Bread)" and "New York Electric Street Music".
First the good news, which is really good: the sound on this 340-song set is about as good as one ever fantasized it could be, and that means it runs circles around any prior reissues; from the earliest Aristocrat sides by the Five Blazers and Jump Jackson & His Orchestra right up through Muddy Waters' "Going Down to Main Street," it doesn't get any better than this set. The clarity pays a lot of bonuses, beginning with the impression that it gives of various artists' instrumental prowess. In sharp contrast to the past efforts in this direction by MCA, however, the producers of this set have not emasculated the sound in the course of cleaning it up, as was the case with the Chuck Berry box, in particular.