Jimmy McGriff - I've Got A Woman

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1962
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:20
Size: 95,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:34)  1. I've Got A Woman
(3:56)  2. On The Street Where You Live
(2:21)  3. Satin Doll
(5:45)  4. 'Round Midnight
(2:53)  5. All About My Girl
(4:57)  6. M.G. Blues
(2:20)  7. That's The Way I Feel
(6:00)  8. After Hours
(3:24)  9. Flying Home
(5:06) 10. Sermon

McGriff's first album is great. The title cut was in the top 20 in 1962. Also on the same album is "M.G. Blues" and "All About My Girl." This session McGriff, Richard Easley on drums and Walter Miller on guitar. Hi-impact early McGriff is the still the best, and this is the album that started it all, on the Sue label. Three cuts available on the Collectable CD A Toast to Jimmy McGriff's Golden Classics. ~ Michael Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/ive-got-a-women-mw0000090399

Personnel: Jimmy McGriff - organ; Morris Dow - guitar; Jackie Mills - drums

I've Got A Woman

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Jimmy McGriff - Greatest Organ Hits

Styles: Soul Jazz, Hard Bop
Year: 1968
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:18
Size: 91,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:56) 1. All About My Girl
(4:57) 2. M. G. Blues
(2:50) 3. Kiko
(2:40) 4. Topkapi
(4:35) 5. I've Got A Woman
(4:41) 6. Turn Blue
(4:34) 7. One Of Mine
(2:53) 8. Hello Betty
(4:28) 9. The Last Minute
(3:41) 10. Bump De Bump

Organ master Jimmy McGriff may have studied formally at Juilliard and at Philadelphia's Combe College of Music, but there's nothing fancy about his music. It's basic to the bone, always swinging and steeped in blues and gospel. McGriff's brand of jazz is about feeling. "That's the most important thing," he says.

Blues has been the backbone of most of the major jazz organists, including Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff, but throughout his 42-year recording career, McGriff has stuck closer to the blues than any of them. "People are always classifying me as a jazz organist, but I'm more of a blues organ player," he insists. "That's really what I feel."

McGriff's recordings of "I've Got a Woman" and "All About My Girl" were r&b and jukebox staples during the Sixties. With McGriff Avenue, his fourteenth album for Milestone (counting the five he's cut as co-leader with Hank Crawford), the Hammond organ grinder remains true to the blues grounding for which he's famous. The way things turned out, McGriff Avenue was not just another record date for the organist and his sidemen, as producer Bob Porter recounts in the CD notes. Porter had booked a noon session at Rudy Van Gelder's New Jersey studio for September 11th, 2001, but that morning he quickly realized—especially since bridge and tunnel access to and from Manhattan was cut off soon after the World Trade Center towers were hit—that the session was not going to take place as scheduled.

When the record date was rescheduled for six weeks later, some personnel adjustments were necessary. Although Bill Easley, Ronnie Cuber, and bassist Wilbur Bascomb were able to make both days of recording, Purdie was replaced on the second day by Don Williams. Guitarist Rodney Jones couldn't make the first session, but he contributed the funky title track (and was ably replaced by Melvin Sparks-Hassan).

Saxophonist Gordon Beadle, a veteran of Duke Robillard's band, is new to the McGriff orbit, but the other players have extensive histories with the organist. The great drummer Bernard Purdie has appeared on most of McGriff's Milestone discs, and Don Williams has been a member of McGriff's touring band for years. Likewise Rodney Jones, Ronnie Cuber, Melvin Sparks-Hassan, Wilbur Bascomb, and Bill Easley are all McGriff familiars who deliver the "gospel/blues-kinda flavor" the leader finds much to his liking. The performances on the McGriff shuffle "All About My Girl," Jimmy Forrest's "Soul Street," and the sanctified "America, The Beautiful" make that absolutely clear.

James Harrell McGriff was born on April 3, 1936 in Philadelphia, long the capital of the jazz organ world. Such seminal jazz organists as Milt Buckner and Wild Bill Davis frequently passed through town, and it was there that Jimmy Smith laid the groundwork for modern jazz organ. Other outstanding organists associated with the City of Brotherly Love include Doc Bagley, Shirley Scott, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Joey DeFrancesco, and Charles Earland. In fact, Earland, who had played saxophone on McGriff's very first recording, a 1959 single on the White Marsh label titled "Foxy Due," learned the organ from McGriff.

Although both his mother and father were pianists, McGriff started out on bass and saxophone, later picking up drums, vibes, and piano. He served as an MP during the Korean War and spent two and a half years as a Philadelphia policeman. While on the force, he moonlighted as a bassist at Pep's Showboat, playing behind blues singer Big Maybelle and other stars of the Fifties. The lessons he learned as a bass player would later turn up in his signature organ style, which is marked by strong, swinging bass patterns.

After leaving law enforcement, McGriff turned his focus to organ and studied locally at Combe and in New York City at Juilliard, as well as privately with Jimmy Smith, "Groove" Holmes, Milt Buckner, and classical organist Sonny Gatewood. Of greater importance to McGriff's musical development, however, were his experiences as a young man at Philadelphia's Eastern Star Baptist Church. "They talk about who taught me this and who taught me that, but the basic idea of what I'm doing on the organ came from the church," he says. "That's how I got it, and I just never dropped it."

In 1962, while McGriff was performing in Trenton, New Jersey, a scout from a tiny record label called Jell was struck with the organist's arrangement of "I've Got a Woman" and offered him a contract. As McGriff's single was taking off, Sue Records in New York purchased the master and it became a smash, peaking at No. 5 on Billboard's r&b chart and at No. 20 on the pop list. With that and such subsequent Sue singles as "All About My Girl," "M.G. Blues," and "Bump De Bump," the organist staked out a musical turf all his own, somewhere between the jazz of Jimmy Smith and the r&b of Booker T. & the MGs. After leaving Sue, McGriff recorded prolifically for such labels as Solid State, Blue Note, Capitol, United Artists, Groove Merchant, and JAM. He also cut two albums with the great blues singer Junior Parker.

Renewed interest in the Hammond organ over the past several years has substantially increased the demand for McGriff's music. "People that didn't listen to organ things before listen now," he says. "I'm playing jobs that ordinarily I wouldn't play."

McGriff had used a Hammond B-3 organ at the onset of his career but in recent years has been playing a modified model known as a Hammond XB-3. "The one I got is special 'cause it's built for me," he says. "I can separate the top manual against the bottom manual. I get strings on it, and I get a different kind of bass."

With McGriff Avenue, Jimmy McGriff serves up another satisfying set of the type of blues, swing, funk, and gospel-derived sounds for which he's known and loved. It's music from the soul that, as always, feels mighty good.https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/jimmy-mcgriff

Greatest Organ Hits

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Jimmy McGriff - Greatest Hits

Styles: Soul Jazz, Hard Bop
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:18
Size: 154,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:56) 1. All About My Girl
(4:34) 2. I've Got a Woman, Pts. 1 & 2
(3:24) 3. Discotheque U.S.A.
(2:44) 4. Kiko
(4:23) 5. See See Rider
(3:42) 6. Cash Box
(5:37) 7. Gospel Time
(4:45) 8. Where It's At
(4:17) 9. The Last Minute
(5:00) 10. Blue Juice
(3:36) 11. Step One
(3:45) 12. Chris Cross
(3:35) 13. South Wes
(3:35) 14. Black Pearl
(3:20) 15. The Worm
(3:39) 16. Ain't It Funky Now
(3:19) 17. Fat Cakes

Blue Note's Greatest Hits doesn't limit itself to the recordings Jimmy McGriff made for the label during the late '60s and early '70s. Instead, it culls from his Sue, Veep, and Solid State recordings as well, making it a definitive overview of his career as a gritty, funky singles artist. And, as Greatest Hits demonstrates, McGriff could create a monster groove, making his singles intoxicating slices of funky jazz. All of his R&B hits "I've Got a Woman," "All About My Girl," "Kiko," "The Worm" are here, as are lesser-known singles and terrific album tracks, resulting in a compilation that isn't just a terrific introduction for neophytes, but also a useful retrospective for collectors.
~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine https://www.allmusic.com/album/greatest-hits-mw0000594445

Greatest Hits

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Jimmy McGriff - Electric Funk

Styles: Soul Jazz
Year: 1970
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 32:22
Size: 75,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:18)  1. Back On The Track
(3:46)  2. Chris Cross
(3:19)  3. Miss Poopie
(4:02)  4. The Bird Wave
(3:29)  5. Spear For Moondog, Part 1
(3:05)  6. Spear For Moondog, Part 2
(3:59)  7. Tight Times
(3:35)  8. Spinning Wheel
(3:45)  9. Funky Junk

This 1969 Sonny Lester production was one nearly hopelessly lost slab of solid funk. It often popped up in cut-out bins when records were still waxed. When used-record stores started disappearing, beauties like this started vanishing too. But Blue Note's blessed Rare Groove series has exhumed all 32 minutes of this hard-hitting fon-kee gem (and, to its credit, retained the original but dated cover art too). Acid jazzers are probably already familiar with "The Bird Wave," which appeared on the Blue Note Rare Grooves compilation issued in 1996. The great news is that the rest of Electric Funk goes like this too. No sap, no frills. Just good true groove. In 1997, nay-sayers accuse this street soul (which prevailed in the early 70s) of being nothing more than TV cop-show music and Blaxploitation soundtrack stuff. Lovers will say that's the point. But in 1969, this was the next step for soul jazz; a genre Jimmy McGriff has always ruled. From his early Sue classics (all of which were recently released on CD by the Collectibles label) to his Solid State records in the 60s and on to his Sonny Lester productions on Groove Merchant and LRC in the 70s, this man has always known how to rock a groove. Unfortunately, credits are limited here to the organ grinder and his arranger (Horace Ott - a staple of the orchestrated groove in the 70s). 

Some sources indicate Stanley Turrentine and Blue Mitchell sit in the orchestra pit (very brief tenor and trumpet features indicate it's certainly possible). It'd be nice, however, to know the identities of the fuzz guitarist heard here and the funky drummer (who has the rhythmic familiarity of Bernard Purdie). Ott's arrangements are riff-oriented and stay out of McGriff's way. They often launch McGriff into one clever line after another and, fortunately, never tempt him to out-modulate the horn section as was so often the case on McGriff's earlier big-band tribute to Count Basie. Here's hoping Blue Note has room left in the budget to bring back the long-lost grooves of McGriff's The Worm (1968) and Black Pearl (1971) too. ~ Douglas Payne https://www.allaboutjazz.com/electric-funk-jimmy-mcgriff-blue-note-records-review-by-douglas-payne.php

Personnel:  Jimmy McGriff – electronic organ; Blue Mitchell – trumpet; Stanley Turrentine – tenor saxophone; Horace Ott – electric piano, arranger; Chuck Rainey – electric bass; Bernard Purdie – drums

Electric Funk

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Jimmy McGriff - The Worm

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1968
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:56
Size: 88,2 MB
Art: Front

(3:20)  1. The Worm
(5:56)  2. Keep Loose
(6:52)  3. Heavy Weight
(3:16)  4. Think
(5:13)  5. Lock It Up
(4:31)  6. Girl Talk
(4:59)  7. Blue Juice
(3:46)  8. Take The "A" Train

Jimmy McGriff's B-3 sound was always rooted in blues and gospel, and his soloing could be very smooth and polished. But every once in a while, he had to break out of his own soul box and tear it up on a session. The Worm, issued on Solid State Records in 1968, is the very first place he did. This is the first true, all-out funky burner from McGriff, and it sounds very different from most of the other titles on his shelf. Having a band like this helps: trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxophonist Fats Theus (with Bob Ashton on baritone and Danny Turner on alto), alternating drummers Mel Lewis and Grady Tate, bassist Bob Bushnell, and guitarist Thornel Schwartz were all in their prime in 1968. The title track, written by McGriff, Theus, and producer Sonny Lester, sets the tone for the whole platter. The saxophone section lays in the cut and is prodded on in a driving, funked-up, hard soul groove by the expanded rhythm section (a B-3 album with a bassist wasn't unheard of, but it wasn't standard procedure either). Solos by both McGriff and Mitchell are choppy and punchy in the extreme. The trumpeter is amazing here, offering a small taste of the sound he displayed on 1969's Collision in Black. 

But check out the next two tunes, both McGriff originals that push the LP into the red zone and keep it there. "Keep Loose" takes the organist head-to-head against Schwartz's electric six-string, and forces a showdown. McGriff is like an out-of-control soul singer (James Brown in a concert setting comes to mind), incessantly forcing his band to play faster, greasier, and choppier on chorus after chorus. He ups the intensity level until there is nowhere to go but over the ledge. He takes them there on "Heavyweight," the very next number, a swinging boppish blues. The horns actually keep the track grounded as McGriff gets terse, dense, and finally unhinged: he's more adventurous in this solo than he had been before, then he double- and even triple-times the entire band! He brings Bushnell's bass up the ever-narrowing stairs of the riff until they become a single player, all groove, grit, and grease. McGriff's cover of Aretha Franklin's "Think" keeps the exuberance level high. As the horns move right into the Memphis soul vamp, McGriff again plays the part of a vocalist: charging up and down the melody on his keyboards, popping in slippery side chords and harmonic flourishes. Tate's drums swing freely yet forcefully, and bass and guitar lines are simply nasty. The readings of Kenny Burrell's "Lock It Up" and Billy Strayhorn's "Take the 'A' Train" are the closest things to "straight" jazz here, though they're full of razored edges and hard angles. The reading of Neal Hefti's "Girl Talk" features the horns strolling leisurely on the melody and vamp, but McGriff goes into overdrive again and his solo hits the stratosphere. The Worm is a monster album through and through. Not only is it a revelatory example of McGriff on the wild, it marks one of the first places where the new funky urban soul met jazz and blues and evolved into jazz-funk. ~ Thom Jurek https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-worm-mw0000659896

Personnel:  Organ – Jimmy McGriff; Alto Saxophone – Danny Turner; Baritone Saxophone – Robert Ashton; Bass [Fender] – Bob Bushnell; Drums – Grady Tate, Mel Lewis; Guitar – Thornel Schwartz; Tenor Saxophone – Fats Theus; Trumpet – Blue Mitchell

The Worm

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Jimmy McGriff - Main Squeeze

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:56
Size: 89.1 MB
Styles: Soul-jazz
Year: 1974/2005
Art: Front

[4:21] 1. The Worm Turns
[3:09] 2. The Sermon
[5:06] 3. The Blues Train To Georgia
[7:39] 4. Misty
[3:47] 5. The Main Squeeze
[4:52] 6. GMI
[5:30] 7. These Foolish Things Remind Me Of You
[4:29] 8. Stella By Starlight

Drums – Eddie Gladden; Guitar – Jimmy Ponder; Organ, Keyboards – Jimmy McGriff; Saxophone [Alto] – Connie Lester.

Like so many Jimmy McGriff albums, Main Squeeze percolates but never quite boils over. It's a collection of short, sharp and oh-so-sincere funk workouts performed with both style and skill, the album simply plays its cards too close to the vest, controlling the groove but never giving in to it. Paired with guitarist Jimmy Ponder and altoist Connie Lester, McGriff moves effortlessly from originals ("The Worm Turns") to standards ("Stella by Starlight") to soul-jazz signifiers (Jimmy Smith's "The Sermon"), vamping and wailing but never letting go -- the tracks are more short stories than epic poems, tightly controlled and frustratingly limited in both style and scope. ~Jason Ankeny

Main Squeeze mc
Main Squeeze zippy

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Jimmy McGriff - McGriff Avenue

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:00
Size: 135.1 MB
Styles: B-3 Organ jazz, Soul-jazz
Year: 2002
Art: Front

[ 7:46] 1. All About My Girl
[ 7:32] 2. McGriff Avenue
[10:46] 3. Soul Street
[ 8:10] 4. The Answer Is The Blues
[ 6:43] 5. The Great Unknown
[ 8:33] 6. Dissertation On The Blues
[ 6:28] 7. The Worm
[ 2:59] 8. America, The Beautiful

Don Williams - Drums; Ronnie Cuber - Baritone Sax; Bill Easley - Tenor Sax; Rodney Jones - Guitar; Jimmy McGriff - Organ; Gordon Beadle - Tenor Sax; Melvin "Sparks" Hassan - Guitar; Bernard "Pretty" Purdie - Drums; Wilbur Bascomb, Jr. - Bass.

Jimmy McGriff was originally slated to record this album on September 11, 2001 at Rudy van Gelder's studio in New Jersey, but the tragic events of that day led to an obvious need for rescheduling. As a result, the session was split in two, with somewhat different lineups at each. However, fans of the organist's trademark down-and-dirty B-3 blues and funk can rest assured: despite the complications, the results are pure McGriff.

McGriff assembled a top notch lineup of soul jazz veterans for these sessions, among them saxophonists Ronnie Cuber and Bill Easley, guitarists Rodney Jones and Melvin "Sparks" Hassan, electric bassist Wilbur Bascomb, and the funkiest of funk drummers, Bernard Purdie. Together, they rumble through a set of new and vintage McGriff material, including new arrangements of his hits "All About My Girl" and "The Worm." The title tune recalls the old school funk that was McGriff's bread and butter in the '60s, while a nearly 11-minute workout on Jimmy Forrest's "Soul Street" gives everyone room to strut their blues chops. The finale is a deep-gospel take on "America The Beautiful," done a la Ray Charles, an obvious, though moving nod to 9-11.

While no new ground is broken here, McGriff and company evoke the down home mood of the classic soul jazz years. It ain't quite as greasy as the old days, but it still tastes good. ~Joel Roberts

McGriff Avenue

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Jimmy McGriff & Groove Holmes - Giants of the Organ Come Together

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1973
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:08
Size: 95,0 MB
Art: Front

(6:59)  1. Licks A' Plenty
(8:33)  2. Out of Nowhere
(5:24)  3. The Squirrel
(6:18)  4. Finger Lickin' Good
(7:03)  5. How High the Moon
(6:48)  6. Things Ain't What They Used to Be

Twin organs back to back and a heck of a hard-wailing set from Groove Holmes and Jimmy McGriff! The album cooks from the very first note and features long tunes that open up with the same sort of solo-heavy approach that you'd get on Holmes' Prestige albums of the 60s very stretched out, in a way that offers the keyboardists no cover at all, and forces them to keep thinking on their feet to come up with great notes! 

Bernard Purdie plays some nicely tight drums on the set, and guitar is by George Freeman and O'Donel Levy both of whom add some nice superdope touches to the set! A winner all the way through, with great solos and titles that include "Licks A Plenty", "The Squirrel", and "Finger Lickin' Good". © 1996-2017, Dusty Groove, Inc. https://www.dustygroove.com/item/6135/Jimmy-McGriff-Richard-Groove-Holmes:Giants-Of-The-Organ-Come-Together

Personnel:  Organ – Jimmy McGriff,  Richard 'Groove' Holmes;  Congas – Kwasi Jayourba;  Drums – Bernard Purdie;  Guitar – George Freeman, O'Donel Levy

Giants of the Organ Come Together

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Jimmy McGriff - A Thing To Come By

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1969
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:41
Size: 82,3 MB
Art: Front

( 4:01)  1. A Thing To Come By
( 4:38)  2. Charlotte
(10:17)  3. Down Home On The Moon
( 3:18)  4. Oh Happy Day
( 5:23)  5. Don't Let Me Lose This Dream
( 3:07)  6. Up There, Down Here
( 4:55)  7. A Thing To Come By - Part II

One of the all-time giants of the Hammond B-3, Jimmy McGriff sometimes gets lost amid all the great soul-jazz organists from his hometown of Philadelphia. He was almost certainly the bluesiest of the major soul-jazz pioneers, and indeed, he often insisted that he was more of a blues musician than a jazz artist; nonetheless, he remained eclectic enough to blur the lines of classification. His sound deep, down-to-earth grooves drenched in blues and gospel feeling -- made him quite popular with R&B audiences, even more so than some of his peers; what was more, he was able to condense those charms into concise, funky, jukebox-ready singles that often did surprisingly well on the R&B charts. His rearrangement of Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman" was a Top Five R&B hit in 1962, and further hits like "All About My Girl," "Kiko," and "The Worm" followed over the course of the '60s. McGriff spent much of the '70s trying to keep pace with the fusion movement, switching to various electric keyboards and adopting an increasingly smooth, polished style. As the '80s dawned, McGriff gave up trying to sound contemporary and returned to his classic organ-trio sound; as luck would have it, vintage soul-jazz soon came back into vogue with a devoted cult of fans and critics, and McGriff was able to recover his creative vitality and take his place as one of the genre's elder statesmen.

James Harrell McGriff, Jr. was born April 3, 1936, in Philadelphia. His mother and father both played the piano, and he counted saxophonist Benny Golson and soul singer Harold Melvin among his cousins. First getting involved in music through his family's church, he received his first instrument, a drum set, at age eight; by his teen years, he had taken up acoustic bass and alto sax, and also learned vibes, piano, and drums by the time he finished high school. Bass remained his primary instrument for a while, although he was inspired to try his hand at the Hammond organ after seeing Richard "Groove" Holmes at a club in Camden, NJ. However, McGriff was drafted into the military after high school, and served in the Korean War as a military policeman. Upon returning to the United States, he decided to make law enforcement a career, and after completing the necessary training, he worked on the Philadelphia police force for two and a half years. Still, he never lost interest in music, and around 1955 he augmented his day job by working as a bass player behind vocalists like Carmen McRae and, most frequently, Big Maybelle, who had a regular gig at the local Pep's Showboat club. With the Hammond organ rising in popularity around Philadelphia, jobs for bass players were scarce, and McGriff contacted Groove Holmes about learning the organ, this time in earnest. He bought his own Hammond B-3 in 1956, and spent the next six months practicing as hard as he could, either at Holmes' house or at Archie Shepp's house (where he stored the instrument). Skipping more and more work time to play gigs, he finally quit the police force, and enrolled at the local Combe College to study music. He later moved on to the prestigious Juilliard School of Music in New York, and also studied privately with Milt Buckner, Jimmy Smith, and Sonny Gatewood. McGriff's first recording was the single "Foxy Due," cut for the small White Marsh label in 1958; it featured a young saxophonist named Charles Earland, who subsequently learned the organ from McGriff and, like his mentor, went on to become one of the instrument's quintessential performers.  McGriff was performing in a small club in Trenton, NJ in 1962 when a talent scout from the small Jell label heard him and offered him a chance to record. McGriff's instrumental soul-jazz rearrangement of Ray Charles' classic "I've Got a Woman" was released as a single, and sold well enough for Juggy Murray's New York-based Sue label to pick it up for wider release. With better distribution and promotion behind it, "I've Got a Woman" hit the national charts and became a bona fide hit, climbing into the Top Five on the R&B charts and the Top 20 over on the pop side. Sue issued McGriff's debut album, naturally also titled I've Got a Woman, in 1963; it too was a hit, nearly making the pop Top 20, and it spun off two more charting singles in the McGriff originals "All About My Girl" (number 12 R&B, Top 50 pop) and "M.G. Blues." Sue released several more McGriff albums over the next two years, including the live At the Apollo, Jimmy McGriff at the Organ (which produced the chart single "Kiko"), the holiday hit Christmas With McGriff (actually his highest-charting album at number 15 pop), the charting Topkapi (a collection of soundtrack themes with orchestral backing), and another chart hit, Blues for Mister Jimmy, which proved to be his last on Sue.

In 1966, McGriff moved over to the Solid State label, where he hooked up with producer Sonny Lester, who would helm most of his records through the '70s. He debuted with Jimmy McGriff and the Big Band, which found him fronting an all-star swing orchestra featuring many Count Basie alumni (it was later reissued as A Tribute to Count Basie). McGriff recorded prolifically for Solid State over the remainder of the decade, including albums like A Bag Full of Soul (1966), A Bag Full of Blues (1967), and I've Got a New Woman (1968; mostly a look back at his Sue material). Most notably, though, McGriff scored another hit single with "The Worm," which made the R&B Top 30 and sent the LP of the same name rocketing into the R&B Top Ten in early 1969. In addition to his Solid State recordings, McGriff cut several albums for Blue Note over 1969-1971, most notably Electric Funk, an early foray into jazz-funk fusion that teamed him with arranger/electric pianist Horace Ott; a similar outing that featured pop/rock and R&B covers, Soul Sugar, was released on Capitol during the same period. Additionally, McGriff toured as part of Buddy Rich's band during the late '60s, and again from 1971-1972. McGriff made Groove Merchant his primary label in 1971, and although he briefly quit the business in 1972 to start a horse farm in Connecticut, the lure of music proved too powerful to overcome. Early in the decade, he alternated between funky electric outings (usually with covers of contemporary rock and R&B hits) and more traditional, small-group organ-jazz settings.

 Notable albums included 1973's Giants of the Organ Come Together, a summit with mentor and longtime friend Groove Holmes; a duo album with bluesman Junior Parker; 1976's Mean Machine, a slicker jazz-funk LP that returned him to the R&B album chart's Top 50; and the 1977 follow-up Red Beans, which also sold respectably. After 1977's Tailgunner (on LRC), McGriff's recorded output tailed off over the next few years. He resurfaced on the Milestone label in 1983, debuting with Countdown, a return to his classic, bluesy soul-jazz style that started to bring him back into the jazz spotlight. A series of strong albums followed during the '80s, including 1984's Skywalk, 1985's State of the Art, 1986's acclaimed The Starting Five, and 1988's Blue to the 'Bone (a near-Top Ten hit on the jazz LP charts); he also recorded a one-off session for Headfirst in 1990, You Ought to Think About Me, that made the jazz Top Ten. Additionally, McGriff co-led a group with saxophonist Hank Crawford during the late '80s, which released several albums, including 1990's popular On the Blue Side (number three on the jazz charts). He also returned to his roots in the church by playing on gospel singer Tramaine Hawkins' 1990 live album. McGriff and Crawford moved over to Telarc for a pair of albums over 1994-1995, Right Turn on Blue and Blues Groove. As soul-jazz returned to cult popularity in both America and the U.K., McGriff found himself playing higher-profile gigs and venues on both sides of the Atlantic. He returned to Milestone and resumed his solo career in 1996 with The Dream Team, which featured saxman David "Fathead" Newman and drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, both of whom would become familiar faces on McGriff recordings in the years to come. Follow-ups included solid records like 1998's Straight Up, 2000's McGriff's House Party, 2001's Feelin' It, and 2002's McGriff Avenue, which looked back on some of his '60s hits. ~ Steve Huey http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jimmy-mcgriff-mn0000076658/biography

Personnel:  Jimmy McGriff - piano, organ;  Blue Mitchell – trumpet;  Fats Theus - tenor saxophone;  Larry Frazier - guitar

A Thing To Come By

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Jimmy McGriff - McGriff's House Party

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 59:34
Size: 136.3 MB
Styles: Soul-jazz, Funk
Year: 2000
Art: Front

[8:00] 1. Neckbones à la Carte
[8:19] 2. Blues For Stitt
[5:45] 3. Red Roses For A Blue Lady
[6:00] 4. Red Cadillac Boogaloo
[6:31] 5. that's all
[7:26] 6. McGriff's House Party
[7:30] 7. Grits, Gravy And Groove
[9:59] 8. Dishin' The Dirt

This Milestone release continues in the soul groove that Jimmy McGriff helped create in the early '60s. McGriff's House Party took two days to complete and found the participants in a hard funk mood. The fine groove ensemble on this disc features Kenny Rampton's trumpet on four cuts, tenor saxophonists Eric Alexander or Bill Easley, Rodney Jones on guitar, and Bernard Purdie on drums. It's to McGriff's credit that he invited another organ legend, Dr. Lonnie Smith, along on four especially greasy cuts that will have fans of the genre in Hammond hysteria. Highlights include "Neckbones à la Carte," an up-tempo James Brown-style funk written by guitarist Rodney Jones. "Blues for Stitt" is Easley's tribute to the legendary tenor saxophonist. "Red Roses for a Blue Lady" trots along with an extra bite given to this standard from Alexander. Special guest guitarist George Benson doesn't actually play on this date but he does make his presence felt by contributing "Red Cadillac Boogaloo," which he composed while enjoying the session from the control booth. The slow closing blues "Dishin the Dirt" signals last call and winds up another enjoyable and recommended soul groove session from Jimmy McGriff. ~Al Campbell

McGriff's House Party

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Various - Blue Note Plays Ray Charles

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:58
Size: 107.5 MB
Styles: Jazz/Blues/Soul/R&B
Year: 2005
Art: Front

[3:12] 1. Lou Rawls - That's Where It's At
[4:32] 2. Jimmy McGriff - I Got A Woman
[4:34] 3. Stanley Turrentine - What Would I Do Without You
[6:28] 4. Grant Green - This Little Girl Of Mine
[2:48] 5. Jimmy Smith - Ain't That Love
[7:16] 6. Freddy Roach - (Night Time Is) The Right Time
[2:58] 7. Joe Williams - Hallelujah I Love Her So
[3:32] 8. The Three Sounds - Drown In My Own Tears
[2:56] 9. Lou Rawls - Hide Nor Hair
[3:23] 10. Grant Green - I Can't Stop Loving You
[5:14] 11. Jimmy Smith - I'm Movin' On

Blue Note Plays Ray Charles contains 11 previously released performances by jazz artists associated with the label who dip into the songbook of "Brother Ray." These are enjoyable re-creations courtesy of several Hammond B-3 masters, including Jimmy McGriff's "I Got a Woman," Freddie Roach's "Night Time Is the Right Time," and Jimmy Smith's "I'm Movin' On." Also of note is guitarist Grant Green's lyrical take on "I Can't Stop Loving You," with pianist Herbie Hancock's light, late-night blues touch influenced by The Genius After Hours. On past Blue Note Plays releases, the time line of music has tended to cross several decades, making for an erratic and jarring listening experience. Fortunately, there is a consistency on Blue Note Plays Ray Charles, as nine of the tracks were recorded in the '60s with the exception of two by Lou Rawls: "That's Where It's At," with Charles on vocals, from 1989 and "Hide nor Hair" from 1992. This budget-priced release is recommended to all fans of Ray Charles, whether they are jazz fans or not. ~Al Campbell

Blue Note Plays Ray Charles

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Hank Crawford, Jimmy McGriff - Crunch Time

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:37
Size: 120.5 MB
Styles: Soul-jazz, Bop
Year: 1998
Art: Front

[6:29] 1. Bow Legs
[8:09] 2. It's All Good
[5:42] 3. Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go)
[7:09] 4. Sandu
[7:12] 5. Crunch Time
[7:12] 6. What's Going On
[4:11] 7. Without A Song
[6:29] 8. The Preacher

Cornell Dupree, Melvin Sparks - Guitar; Bernard "Pretty" Purdie - Drums; Jimmy McGriff - Organ; Hank Crawford - Sax (Alto).

Crunch Time is classic Crawford/McGriff from the laid-back soulfulness of Crawford's "Bow Legs" to the swing given to Horace Silver's "The Preacher." Saxophonist Crawford and organist McGriff, recording as a team for this, their seventh album, go together like red beans and rice, offering a similar blend of comfort and kick. Crawford's distinct, bright tone penetrates the grooves laid-down by McGriff's tasty chordings. It's McGriff who adds the cayenne on his self-penned, bebopping title cut with drummer Bernard Purdie in the pocket all the way. A moving interpretation of the standard ballad "Without a Song," gains emotional impact by its provocatively leisurely pace and the Crawford's heart-wrenching blowing. Guitarists Melvin Sparks and Cornell Dupree, who are heard on alternating cuts, compliment the leaders whether comping behind them with those big fat chords or stepping out to solo. The sense of timing throughout this album and within these musicians is at the music's essence. It's the element which makes Crunch Time-and all of Crawford's and McGriff's music-so timeless. ~Geraldine Wycoff

Crunch Time

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Jimmy McGriff - Let's Stay Together

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 32:10
Size: 73.7 MB
Styles: Soul/Jazz/Funk
Year: 1972/2004
Art: Front

[2:41] 1. Let's Stay Together
[4:16] 2. Tiki
[3:56] 3. Theme From Shaft
[4:30] 4. What's Going On
[5:03] 5. Old Grand Dad
[6:40] 6. Georgia On My Mind
[5:01] 7. April In Paris

Congas – James Peacock; Drums – Willie Jenkins, St. Jenkins; Guitar – Lawrence Frazier, Thornel Schwartz; Organ – Jimmy McGriff; Saxophone [Tenor] – Harold (Sampson) Bennett;Trombone – L. E. Lofton; Trumpet – William Skinner.

This early-'70s title features a mixed program by the great soul-jazz organist Jimmy McGriff. McGriff not only digs into some Jimmy Smith-style, early '60s-era organ trio numbers like his original "Old Grad Dad" and Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia on My Mind," but he also includes the kind of contemporary soul fare he had turned to by the late '60s; McGriff spares no expense, going for the heart of soul royalty with Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," Isaac Hayes' "Theme From Shaft," and Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On." Inspired by their attractive melody lines and challenging chord sequences, McGriff and band enliven these already great songs with fine horn arrangements and superb solos (Harold Bennett's passionate and assured flute solo on "What's Going On" especially stands out). McGriff registers some nasty, in-the-pocket solos himself and contributes one of the hottest tracks here, the chicken-shack cooker "Tiki." Let's Stay Together is a great set by one of the masters of the Hammond B-3 organ sound. ~Stephen Cook

Let's Stay Together

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Groove Holmes, Jimmy McGriff, Junior Parker - Troubadours Of Groove

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:49
Size: 86.6 MB
Styles: R&B, Soul- jazz
Year: 1996/2012
Art: Front

[3:30] 1. Richard 'Groove' Holmes - Groove Grease
[3:11] 2. Richard 'Groove' Holmes - The Bird
[3:34] 3. Richard 'Groove' Holmes - Plain Brown Bag
[3:38] 4. Richard 'Groove' Holmes - Ain't It Funky Now
[2:46] 5. Jimmy McGriff - River's Invitation
[3:19] 6. Jimmy McGriff - Love Ain't Nothin' But A Business Goin' On
[5:15] 7. Jimmy McGriff - Night Glider
[3:30] 8. Jimmy McGriff - Fly Jack
[5:19] 9. Junior Parker - You've Got It Bad
[3:42] 10. Junior Parker - Red Onion

"The Troubadours" are not actually a group, but these are three groovemeisters who made important individual contributions to the soul-jazz and R&B-blues movements. The four Jimmy McGriff and four Richard "Groove" Holmes' organ combo numbers are good but far from essential tracks in their careers. Two Junior Parker numbers are the same. It's hard to understand the concept behind the release of Troubadours of Groove, as many other recordings yield better music and more vital sessions than these. It's not a bad party record though, one time through. ~Michael G. Nastos

Troubadours Of Groove

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Jimmy McGriff - The Best Of The Sue Years 1962-1965

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 74:26
Size: 170.4 MB
Styles: B3 Organ blues/jazz
Year: 2006
Art: Front

[2:32] 1. I've Got a Woman
[3:54] 2. All About My Girl
[4:55] 3. M.G. Blues
[4:15] 4. The Last Minute
[4:35] 5. One of Mine
[4:56] 6. Spindletop
[6:52] 7. The Deacon
[5:47] 8. Frame for the Blues
[5:36] 9. A Thing for Jug
[3:25] 10. Kiko
[3:51] 11. All Day Long
[4:55] 12. Helly Betty
[3:21] 13. Discotheque U.S.A
[4:55] 14. Blues for Mr. Jimmy
[3:53] 15. Sho' Nuff
[3:00] 16. Blues for Joe
[3:37] 17. Cash Box

One of the all-time giants of the Hammond B-3, Jimmy McGriff sometimes gets lost amid all the great soul-jazz organists from his hometown of Philadelphia. He was almost certainly the bluesiest of the major soul-jazz pioneers, and indeed, he often insisted that he was more of a blues musician than a jazz artist; nonetheless, he remained eclectic enough to blur the lines of classification. His sound- deep, down-to-earth grooves drenched in blues and gospel feeling made him quite popular with R&B audiences, even more so than some of his peers; what was more, he was able to condense those charms into concise, funky, jukebox-ready singles that often did surprisingly well on the R&B charts. His rearrangement of Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman" was a Top Five R&B hit in 1962, and further hits like "All About My Girl," "Kiko," and "The Worm" followed over the course of the '60s. McGriff spent much of the '70s trying to keep pace with the fusion movement, switching to various electric keyboards and adopting an increasingly smooth, polished style. As the '80s dawned, McGriff gave up trying to sound contemporary and returned to his classic organ-trio sound; as luck would have it, vintage soul-jazz soon came back into vogue with a devoted cult of fans and critics, and McGriff was able to recover his creative vitality and take his place as one of the genre's elder statesmen. ~bio by Steve Huey

The Best Of The Sue Years 1962-1965 

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Jimmy McGriff - Blue To The Bone

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:18
Size: 101.4 MB
Styles: Soul-jazz-blues
Year: 1988
Art: Front

[ 6:26] 1. Ain't That Funk For You
[ 5:11] 2. For All We Know
[10:18] 3. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
[ 9:03] 4. Secret Love
[ 7:43] 5. Hangin' In
[ 5:34] 6. After The Dark

Bill Easley »» Saxophone; Al Grey »» Trombone; Jimmy McGriff »» Hammond B3; Bernard Purdie »» Drums; Melvin Sparks »» Guitar.

McGriff with Bill Easley on sax, Melvin Sparks on guitar, Bernard Purdie on drums, and Al Grey on trombone. The trombone is not that often found in the small-organ combo format and may not appeal to everyone. Smooth, yet funky. ~Michael Erlewine

Blue To The Bone

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Jimmy McGriff - Featuring Hank Crawford

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 62:35
Size: 143.3 MB
Styles: Hard bop, Jazz-funk
Year: 1978/1990
Art: Front

[6:29] 1. Dust Pan
[6:49] 2. Playland
[6:06] 3. Tapoica
[5:22] 4. Midnight Boogie
[6:34] 5. Walkin Willie
[9:19] 6. Courage
[7:23] 7. Loot To Boot
[4:54] 8. How Long
[2:44] 9. Let's Stay Together
[3:09] 10. The Bird
[3:40] 11. Ain't It Funky Now

Alto man Hank Crawford and organist Jimmy McGriff are made for each other. Mixing the right brew of blues, swing and funk, they compliment one another's soulful sound in distinctive style.

Featuring Hank Crawford

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Hank Crawford & Jimmy Mcgriff - The Best Of

Styles: Hard Bop, Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2001
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 75:18
Size: 172,9 MB
Art: Front

(8:33)  1. Frim Fram Sauce
(3:30)  2. Mr. P.C.
(6:29)  3. Bow Legs
(6:01)  4. Lift Every Voice And Sing
(6:02)  5. Because Of You
(6:42)  6. One Mint Julep
(3:41)  7. Second Time Around
(8:32)  8. The River's Invitation
(4:43)  9. Jimmy's Groove
(7:12) 10. Any Day Now
(4:55) 11. Jumpin' With Symphony Sid
(8:52) 12. A Little Bit South Of East St Louis

Hank Crawford and Jimmy McGriff didn't co-lead a studio date until 1986, when Bob Porter (one of the top producers in the soul-jazz field) produced their Soul Survivors album for Milestone. But alto saxman Crawford and organist McGriff should have recorded together long before that because they have so much in common. Both are soul-jazz/hard bop heavyweights, and both thrive on jazz that is funky, earthy, blues-drenched, and quite accessible; as a rule, blues and R&B lovers who don't care for the more abstract, cerebral styles of jazz have no problem getting into Crawford or McGriff. And they will have no problem getting into this fine collection, which offers a 75-minute sample of material that the veteran improvisers recorded as co-leaders from 1986-1998.

Everything on The Best of Hank Crawford and Jimmy McGriff was produced by Porter, who has produced countless soul-jazz sessions over the years. So not surprisingly, this 2001 release is full of state-of-the-art soul-jazz. Crawford and McGriff enjoy a strong rapport whether they are getting into hard-swinging up-tempo fare on "One Mint Julep" (a major hit for Ray Charles in 1961) and Lester Young's "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid" or lyrical ballad playing on "Second Time Around" and "Because of You." None of the material is groundbreaking; in the '80s and '90s, Crawford and McGriff excelled by sticking with the type of down-home stuff they had been embracing since the '50s. The Best of Hank Crawford and Jimmy McGriff isn't difficult, ultra-intellectual jazz that will scare away R&B, rock, and pop fans this is grits-and-gravy music, and accessibility is the rule on these inspired Crawford/McGriff encounters. ~ Alex Henderson  http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-best-of-hank-crawford-and-jimmy-mcgriff-mw0000017212

Personnel: Hank Crawford (alto saxophone); Jimmy McGriff (organ, Hammond B-3 organ); Billy Preston (piano); George Benson, Wayne Boyd, Cornell Dupree, Jimmy Ponder (guitar); Vance James, Mel Lewis, Bernard Purdie (drums);

The Best Of

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VA - Jazz Organ

Size: 244,1 MB
Time: 104:51
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

01. Shirley Scott - Ain't Misbehavin' (3:30)
02. Jimmy Smith - The Sermon (7:39)
03. Jack McDuff - Loose Foot (5:04)
04. Bill Doggett - Mudcat (2:32)
05. Larry Young - Back Up (Remastered) (8:36)
06. Dr. Lonnie Smith - Seesaw (Remastered) (5:50)
07. Jimmy McGriff - Sho' Nuff (3:53)
08. Jimmy Smith - Fungii Mama (Remastered) (4:50)
09. Lou Donaldson - Caravan (5:20)
10. Jack McDuff - Butter (For Yo' Popcorn) (4:04)
11. Bill Doggett - Oo-Da (3:48)
12. Larry Young - Paris Eyes (Remastered) (6:37)
13. Jimmy McGriff - Swingin' The Blues (Remastered) (3:44)
14. Shirley Scott - Blue Bongo (3:01)
15. Pat Metheny - Dr. Slate (7:37)
16. Jimmy Smith - Motorin' Along (Remastered) (5:07)
17. Jack McDuff - Down Home Style (5:02)
18. Jimmy McGriff - M.G. Blues (4:55)
19. Grant Green - Luny Tune (7:39)
20. Shirley Scott - Ciao, Ciao (5:51)

Pepi Lemer, co-founder of the legendary jazz/fusion group ‘Turning Point’ is now launching her new cd and band ‘Back2front’. Pepi’s inspiration to find a repertoire of songs that could embrace her passion for latin rhythms, improvisation and intricate jazz patterns which could enable her to use her vocalese style of singing was the great American jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, and when he gave her permission to write lyrics to some of his compositions, her band was formed using his and other world composers songs.

She has created a driving, exciting percussive mix of jazz/latin fusion music using her remarkable vocal range and unique vocalese style.

She is using some of Britain’s finest jazz musicians for her new band and cd, these are: Peter Lemer (piano), Chris Lawrence (bass), Paul Robinson (drums), Gary Hammond (percussion), Richard Edwards (trombone), Derek Nash (sax), Pepi Lemer (vocals).

Jazz Organ

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Jimmy Mcgriff - The Big Band: A Tribute To Basie

Styles: Hard Bop, Soul Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:31
Size: 83,9 MB
Art: Front

(2:26)  1. Hob Nail Boogie
(3:55)  2. Cherry Point
(3:45)  3. Swingin' The Blues
(3:29)  4. Cute
(4:04)  5. Every Day I Have The Blues
(3:32)  6. Blues Go Away
(2:55)  7. Avenue C
(4:30)  8. L'il Darlin'
(3:14)  9. Splanky
(4:36) 10. Slow But Sure

Organist Jimmy McGriff's debut recording for the Solid State label (which has been reissued on a 1996 Laserlight CD) was also his first of many with a big band. McGriff pays tribute to the Count Basie Orchestra by performing ten songs from the Basie book (both of the 1940s and '50s) with a large group that includes many Basie veterans. The orchestra is mostly used as a prop, however, for McGriff is generally the main soloist on such tunes as Buster Harding's "Hob Nail Boogie," "Swingin' the Blues," "Cute," "Avenue C" and "L'il Darlin.'" Matching the leader's powerful organ with a big band was a logical idea and one that would be successfully repeated quite a few times in the future. This budget CD gives one a good sampling of Jimmy McGriff's playing. ~ Scott Yanow  http://www.allmusic.com/album/big-band-a-tribute-to-basie-mw0000611109

Personnel: Jimmy McGriff (organ); Kenny Burrell, Barry Galbraith (guitar); Frank Wess, Jerome Richardson (alto saxophone); Frank Foster , Billy Mitchell , Budd Johnson (tenor saxophone); Seldon Powell (baritone saxophone); Richard Gene Williams , Ernie Royal, Irvin "Marky" Markowitz, Joe Newman Quartet , Thad Jones, Jimmy Nottingham, Burt Collins (trumpet); Eddie Bert, Dick Hixson, J. Alan Johnson , Tom McIntosh, Wayne Andre, Paul Faulise (trombone); Tony Studd (bass trombone); Grady Tate, Mel Lewis (drums).

The Big Band:  A Tribute To Basie

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