Jack Mcduff

George Benson's facile post-Wes Montgomery single-line and chord-accented style was well received in his salad days of the mid- to late '60s. Primarily self-taught and ear-trained, he made great strides in a five-year period around his native Pittsburgh, working with organist Jack McDuff on the East Coast chitlin circuit. As the soul-jazz and boogaloo movement was establishing itself, Benson was right in the pocket, as these seminal mid-'60s sessions perfectly illustrate. In tandem with saxophonist Red Holloway, the two Prestige label LPs New Boss Guitar and Hot Barbeque were initially reissued in 1977 on a vinyl two-fer, and now on this single CD. The first two tracks, "Shadow Dancers" and "The Sweet Alice Blues," sans McDuff though toeing the groove line, are the most original and modern numbers…

The remaster of Jack McDuff's hard swinging 1961 album The Honeydripper was overseen by Rudy Van Gelder himself, adding to the Concord/Prestige catalog the same treatment Van Gelder had done for Blue Note. The date featured the big tenor Jimmy Forrest, drummer Ben Dixon, and Grant Green on guitar in his recording debut. Green not only held his own with McDuff on the title track, "Dink's Blues," and "Blues and Tonic," but he plays gorgeous fills and chord voicings in Henry Mancini's "I Want a Little Girl." Green was always more than a sideman as this date attests, and though he was part of the rhythm section, his playing is a standout on this date. McDuff was already in full possession of his voice as an organist, and his hard bop leanings began to subside here as he embraced a more soulful approach, no doubt informed by the effect Jimmy Smith was having on jazz with his crossover…

It was confusing enough that Willis Jackson, with Jack McDuff as sidekick, recorded first an album titled Together Again!, and then a different album with the similar title Together Again, Again. Combining both of these on a single-CD reissue, and titling the whole caboodle Together Again!, is downright pitiless. But to preface appraisal of the music with a gotta-make-this-clear explanation, this 2003 reissue, though titled Together Again!, is not the same as the original album Together Again!, though it contains every track from that LP. Instead, it collects every track from Together Again! and Together Again, Again, though not presented in their original running orders. Rather, the 13 tracks are sequenced in the chronological order in which they were recorded, from May 1959 to December 1961…

Brother Jack McDuff recorded an enormous number of albums during the '60s, so it can be difficult to figure out where to start digging a little deeper into his output (which Hammond B-3 fans will definitely want to do). 1967's Tobacco Road stands out from the pack for a couple of reasons. First, unlike many of his groove-centric albums, it's heavy on standards and pop/rock tunes (seven of nine cuts), which make for excellent matches with McDuff's highly melodic, piano-influenced style. What's more, about half of the album finds McDuff leading a large ten-piece ensemble arranged and conducted by J.J. Jackson, including a soulful horn section that sounds straight out of Memphis or Muscle Shoals (though this was recorded at Chess studios in Chicago)…

The date featured the big tenor Jimmy Forrest, drummer Ben Dixon, and Grant Green on guitar in his recording debut. Green not only held his own with McDuff on the title track, "Dink's Blues," and "Blues and Tonic," but he plays gorgeous fills and chord voicings in Henry Mancini's "I Want a Little Girl." Green was always more than a sideman as this date attests, and though he was part of the rhythm section, his playing is a standout on this date. McDuff was already in full possession of his voice as an organist, and his hard bop leanings began to subside here as he embraced a more soulful approach, no doubt informed by the effect Jimmy Smith was having on jazz with his crossover. This is an excellent date and should be picked up by anyone interested in McDuff as a great place to start.