Willis Jackson - Keep on a Blowin'

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 77:29
Size: 178,9 MB
Art: Front

(10:22) 1. Keep on a Blowin'
( 4:02) 2. How Deep Is the Ocean
( 3:28) 3. On the Sunny Side of the Street
( 7:44) 4. Blue Strollin'
( 7:11) 5. The Man I Love
( 5:23) 6. A Smooth One
( 5:04) 7. Thunderbird
( 5:26) 8. Oh Lady, Be Good
( 9:14) 9. Back and Forth
( 3:51) 10. California Sun
( 7:54) 11. Body and Soul
( 7:44) 12. A Penny Serenade

In 1999, Fantasy reissued two of Willis Jackson's old Prestige LPs, Keep on a Blowin' (1959-60) and Thunderbird (1962), on this 78-minute CD for its Legends of Acid Jazz series. Spanning 1959-62, this reissue looks back on what was a very exciting period for the big-toned, breathy tenor man, who had moved away from the honking and screaming he had done in the late 1940s and early 1950s and had reinvented himself as a more mature provider of organ-combo soul-jazz. While Keep on a Blowin' (which features a young Jack McDuff on organ) is a straight-ahead collection of blues, ballads (including "How Deep Is the Ocean"), and standards, parts of Thunderbird (which employs Freddie Roach on the Hammond B-3) are more commercial and rock & roll-minded. But even on a remake of the surf rock ditty "California Sun," Jackson doesn't lose his jazzman's sense of improvisation. "The Man I Love" from Keep on a Blowin' is a real surprise Jackson begins the Gershwin standard as a lush ballad before unexpectedly switching to a fast tempo and approaching it as 200 mile-an-hour bop. This consistently rewarding CD is highly recommended.~Alex Henderson https://www.allmusic.com/album/keep-on-a-blowin-mw0000244072

Personnel: Tenor Saxophone – Willis Jackson; Bass – Milt Hinton (tracks: 1), Tommy Potter (tracks: 2, 5-6, 7-12), Wendell Marshall (tracks: 3-4); Congas – Buck Clarke (tracks: 1), Ray Barretto (tracks: 7-12); Drums – Alvin Johnson (tracks: 1-6), Frank Shea (tracks: 7-12); Guitar – Bill Jennings; Organ – Jack McDuff (tracks: 1-6), Freddie Roach (tracks: 7-12)

Keep on a Blowin'

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