Stanley Turrentine The Sugar Man

The fifth and final Stanley Turrentine CTI recording actually predates all but the first album (Sugar). This LP has five selections from Feb.-Apr. 1971, including three with larger bands arranged by either Deodato or Chico O'Farrill, and two with a sextet also including guitarist Kenny Burrell and organist Butch Cornell. The best-known selection is the tenor's first rendition of Michel Legrand's "Pieces of Dreams" from June 1973; his July 1974 rendition for Fantasy would become quite popular. Although one could consider this album to consist of leftovers, Turrentine's playing is excellent, and the overall results certainly top most of the tenor's upcoming Fantasy releases.

Stanley Turrentine is generally pegged as a soul-jazz man but also has proven quite adept in several other styles of modern jazz, as heard on this diverse compilation of tunes from three initially unreleased Blue Note dates with a larger ensemble. While hitting up a handful of the pop tunes of the day, Turrentine shows he is interested in and capable of tackling more modern compositions, with the vibrant and exciting assistance of pianist McCoy Tyner, also not a slouch when soul-jazz is placed in front of him. That Turrentine plays a most enjoyable fluid, tuneful, and tonic tenor saxophone has never been questioned, but what he adds in value as a leader on these tracks further cements his estimable reputation…

Stanley Turrentine's great blues-inflected tenor sax work for Blue Note Records in the 1960s helped build the template for what became known as soul-jazz, but as Turrentine left Blue Note and began working with Creed Taylor's CTI Records in the early '70s, he became increasingly a crossover artist, earning his keep with a kind of smooth, orchestrated after-hours chillout music that was delivered with just enough groove to keep things breathing. What saved all of this from being jazz wallpaper was the steady, slightly raw tone of Turrentine's sax breaks, which seldom disappointed. When he left CTI for Fantasy, Turrentine began pumping up the rhythms into light funk fusion territory…

This album of sophisticated 1980s jazz-funk from one of the master practitioners of the genre features Stanley Turrentine accompanied by a small group on a selection of mostly uptempo pieces, including the disco-influenced "Paradise" and the ballad "I Knew It Couldn't Happen," the latter with vocals by the well-known singer and actress Irene Cara.

This is an overlooked gem of an album by tenor sax man Stanley Turrentine with vibraphonist Milt Jackson recorded for Creed Taylor's label CTI in 1972. The backing band has some of Jazz music's heaviest hitters such as Ron Carter on acoustic bass, Billy Cobham on drums, Bob James on mostly Fender Rhodes electric piano and session ace Cornell DuPre on guitar…

A 106 track survey of alto sax player Bostic, a technical master of his instrument who cut his teeth with many jazz bands during the 1930s. He was to become a hugely influential player who had many hits during his '50s heyday with a jump blues and R&B style. His bands became important training grounds for up-and-coming jazzmen like John Coltrane, Blue Mitchell, Stanley Turrentine and Benny Golson although he achieved his early reputation with jumping R&B tunes and his biggest hits in the '50s with more sophisticated material.