Face Read

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…

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…

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…