After a six-year stay at Prestige, jazz organist Shirley Scott began a lengthy run of albums on Impulse! This two-fer brings together her first two albums for the label, 1963's For Members Only and 1964's Great Scott!! Each album splits its tracks between Scott's regular trio setting (variously featuring rhythms by Earl May/Jimmy Cobb and Bob Cranshaw/Otis Finch) and arrangements written and conducted by Oliver Nelson. Scott's Hammond fits well into each setting, leading the trio with terrific energy and verve, and finding space for lower-wattage performances amid Nelson's charts.
During the 1960's, Shirley Scott's Impulse albums were often split between big band selections (with orchestras arranged by Oliver Nelson) and trio features. This CD reissue includes all of the contents from two of Scott's better Impulse albums, Great Scott and For Members Only. In general the eight trio numbers are the most rewarding performances on the disc since the material is fairly superior while the big band tracks emphasize then-current show and movie tunes. Overall this generous CD gives one a good overview of Shirley Scott's playing talents.
Members Only is a jazz-funk project under the guidance of Chris Hills, it was released in 1987 on Muse Records, personnel is Nelson Rangell on sax, flute & piccolo, Michael Brecker on tenor sax, Lou Soloff on trumpet, Andy Marvel on keyboards, Chris Hills on drums, keyboards, guitar & vocals, Jimi Tunnell and Billy Masters on guitar, Haim Cotton on piano, Yossi Fine on bass and Bashiri Johnson on percussion.