Harold Vick - Steppin' Out!

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1963
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:25
Size: 84,1 MB
Art: Front

(7:29) 1. Our Miss Brooks
(6:12) 2. Trimmed In Blue
(4:42) 3. Laura
(6:28) 4. Dotty's Dream
(5:41) 5. Vicksville
(5:51) 6. Steppin' Out

This soul-jazz outing by tenor saxophonist Harold Vick (his recording debut as a leader) casts him in a role that was often occupied by Stanley Turrentine. Vick, with a quintet that also includes trumpeter Blue Mitchell, guitarist Grant Green, organist John Patton, and drummer Ben Dixon, performs four blues, a slightly trickier original (five of the six songs are his), plus the ballad "Laura" on this CD reissue.

There are no real surprises, but no disappointments either on what would be Harold Vick's only chance to lead a Blue Note date. At 27, he was already a fine player.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/steppin-out%21-mw0001986414

Personnel: Harold Vick - tenor saxophone; Blue Mitchell - trumpet; John Patton - organ; Grant Green - guitar; Ben Dixon - drums

Steppin' Out!

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Clifford Jordan - Soul Fountain

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 2005
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 28:16
Size: 65,7 MB
Art: Front

(2:39)  1. TNT
(3:00)  2. I've Got A Feeling For You
(3:32)  3. H.N.I.C.
(2:37)  4. I Got You
(2:07)  5. Caribbean Cruise
(5:42)  6. Senor Blues
(4:05)  7. Eeh Bah Lickey Doo
(4:31)  8. Retribution

Clifford Jordan's Soul Fountain was recorded for Atlantic in 1966 and produced by no less a talent than Arif Mardin. It was not released until 1968 and then reissued properly in 1970 on the Vortex imprint, by which time Jordan had become an American expatriate living in Europe as so many other jazzmen had. The bottom line is that there was no good reason for any of it. This may be, like Jordan's Plays Leadbelly album, a recording of deep roots music in this case soul but as a jazz album with big fat grooves, stellar playing, and arrangements, it's a monster. The bands (a bit different on sides one and two) tell a big part of the story of the album. The first five tracks the front side feature Jordan on tenor and piano, Jimmy Owens on trumpet and flugelhorn, Julian Priester on trombone, Frank Owens playing both piano and B-3, Ben Tucker on upright bass, Bob Cranshaw on upright and Fender electric bass, drummer Bob Durham, and percussionists Orestes Vilató and Joe Wohletz. The music on side one includes the smoking Ben Tucker jams "T.N.T." and "H.N.I.C.," the first of which is a complete soul-jazz groover with big-boned tenor work by Jordan knotted up in the best Blue Note early three-horn front-line '60s fashion: it's where hard bop met the extrapolated sounds of Latin boogaloo and Ray Charles-styled big-band soul. Tucker's grooves were scorching. The latter tune, written in a minor key, offers more Latin grooves with the same front-line 12-bar blues set up with beautiful call and response, a knotty chorus, and wonderfully seamless harmonies among the horns. Jordan contributes a pair of originals to the side (and three overall). The first is "I've Got a Feeling for You," coming right out of the groove territory with those hand drums popping in and around the piano played by Cliff, and a snarling B-3 workout in the fills by Frank Owens. It's suave, spunky, and swaggering with great trumpet work by Jimmy Owens. Jordan's latter tune on the side is a too-brief little calypso fueled hard bop number. The kit work by Durham is hot and the Jordan solo swings hard and in the pocket. The other tune on the side is a burning funky workout on James Brown's "I Feel Good" with amazing trombone work by Priester, who could have been a part of the '70s J.B.'s in a heartbeat, as his sense of propulsion and rhythm is infectious and Durham's breaks are smoking and in the pocket. Side two offers a bit of a change: Big John Patton plays organ, Billy Higgins plays drums, and Ray Barretto replaces Vilató on congas! Three tunes make up the side: one is a reading of Horace Silver's "Senor Blues" that is so full of Latin groove that it drips. Jordan's interplay with the drummers and Patton is rich, wrangling, his best Sonny Rollins in the role and taking it outside slightly via Coltrane. 

The breezy "Eeh Bah Lickey Doo," by the saxophonist is a shimmering, lightly funky riff-based blues with Jordan playing flute to change things up the tonal contrast between his little woodwind and Patton's B-3 simmering is very hip especially when Big John takes his solo. The final track, written by Priester and Abbey Lincoln is called "Retribution." It's the most complex tune here rhythmically, juxtaposing an intensely clave rhythm against a straight cut time and the front-line playing right in between the two signatures. Priester's lyric sense is complex but utterly accessible, and when Jordan takes his solo following that fat downbeat where it all comes together, he can walk between both poles effortlessly. Patton just pushes from the inside out and finds the horn in the corners. Barretto even at this point was offering a dimension on other people's recordings that was singular. He sounded like no one else and his manner of reading the hard bop accents and angles through boogaloo added a hip factor of ten to the side. Priester's solo is brief, followed by Jimmy Owens' before they bring it all back to that melody, closing it out on a very high point indeed.  Certainly, Jordan's great accomplishments as a leader the two Glass Bead Games volumes and In the World on Strata East, as well as Night of the Mark 7 from the '70s are regarded as high marks in his career, but this side should not be counted out by any stretch of the imagination. Mardin's production work adds the right amount of warmth and Jordan is clearly relaxed and in control, walking the razor's edge between the hard bop past, the present-day soul, and the future openness that he would embrace wholesale a couple of years later. This is a fine set and well worth pursuing whether on wax or via the Wounded Bird reissue (it needs to be said that the latter's program of reissuing Atlantic and Warner jazz from the early '70s is really special in that it highlights work that has been forgotten or was entirely ignored). ~ Thom Jurek https://www.allmusic.com/album/soul-fountain-mw0000582716

Personnel: Clifford Jordan — tenor saxophone, flute, piano; Jimmy Owens - trumpet, flugelhorn; Julian Priester - trombone; John Patton - organ (tracks 6-8); Frank Owens - piano, organ (tracks 1-5); Ben Tucker - bass (tracks 1-5); Bob Cranshaw - bass, electric bass (tracks 1-5); Bobby Durham (tracks 1-5), Billy Higgins (tracks 6-8) - drums; Ray Barretto - congas (tracks 6-8); Joe Wohletz - bongos, percussion; Orestes Vilato - percussion (tracks 1-5)

Soul Fountain

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Big John Patton - Understanding

Styles: Jazz, Post Bop
Year: 1968
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:13
Size: 90,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:36)  1. Ding Dong
(9:12)  2. Congo Chant
(4:40)  3. Alfie's Theme
(6:12)  4. Soul Man
(6:56)  5. Understanding
(6:34)  6. Chitlins Con Carne

Organist John Patton is featured on this set in a stripped-down trio with Harold Alexander (on tenor and flute) and drummer Hugh Walker. 

Patton's one-chord funky vamps are fine in small doses, but the endless repetitions on these rather simplistic originals may drive alert listeners batty after awhile. ~ Scott Yanow  https://www.allmusic.com/album/understanding-mw0000627978

Personnel:  Organ – John Patton; Drums – Hugh Walker; Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Harold Alexander

Understanding

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Big John Patton - Let 'em Roll

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 39:50

Size: 91.2 MB

Styles: Bop, Soul-jazz

Year: 1965/1993

Art: Front

[6:48] 1. Let 'em Roll

[7:20] 2. Latona

[6:52] 3. The Shadow Of Your Smile

[6:45] 4. The Turnaround

[5:35] 5. Jakey

[6:27] 6. One Step Ahead

Drums – Otis Finch; Guitar – Grant Green; Organ – John Patton; Vibraphone [Vibes] – Bobby Hutcherson. Recorded on December 11, 1965.

In an unusual setting for a groove/soul jazz setting, B3 organist extraordinaire big John Patton creates a band around himself that includes Grant Green, drummer Otis Finch, and vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson. It's truly weird to think of vibes on a groove date, but the way Patton's understated playing works, and the way Green is literally all things to all players, Hutcherson's role is not only a clearly defined one, but adds immeasurably to both depth and texture on this date. What also makes this possible is the symbiotic relationship between Patton and Green. There is a double groove conscious swing happening on every track here, from the bluesed-out slip and slide of the title track which opens the record to a killer version of Hank Mobley's "The Turnaround," which expands the blues vibe into solid soul territory because of Hutcherson's ability to play pianistically and slip into the funk groove whenever necessary. Green's deadly in his solo on the track, shimmering arpeggios through Patton's big fat chords and chunky hammering runs. Also notable are Patton's own tunes, the most beautiful of which is "Latona," a floating Latin number with a killer salsa rhythm in 6/8. As Patton vamps through the chorus, Green slips in one of his gnarliest solos ever. It begins with a groove like run in the hard bop blues and then shoves itself into overdrive, capturing the cold sweat of a Bola Sete or Wes Montgomery in his groove years. But when Green goes for the harmonic edges, all bets are off: Hutcherson lays out, and he and Patton go running to the bridge and bring the melody back just in time to take it out. This is one of the least appreciated of Patton's records, and there's no reason for it; it is great. ~Thom Jurek

Let'em Roll 

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George Braith - Laughing Soul

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1966
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:32
Size: 89,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:45)  1. Hot Sauce
(2:51)  2. Chops Sticks
(4:39)  3. Chunky Cheeks
(5:16)  4. Crenshaw West
(3:06)  5. Please Let Me Do It
(3:20)  6. Coolodge
(5:20)  7. With Malice Toward None
(4:07)  8. Little Flame
(4:04)  9. Cantelope Woman

Multi-reedist George Braith was one of the very few jazz musicians to follow in the footsteps of Rahsaan Roland Kirk in playing multiple instruments at the same time. Born George Braithwaite on June 27, 1939, in New York City, Braith's West Indian parents encouraged all of their nine children to pursue music, especially for church; at age ten, Braith formed a Calypso band and soon began studying woodwinds. At 15, his jazz quintet played a summer in the Catskills, and at 17, he was discovered by critic Nat Hentoff; after graduating high school, Braith toured Europe with his quintet, studied at the Manhattan School of Music, and gigged around the East Coast. He began to develop his two-horn technique in 1961, using a stritch (a type of straight alto) and a soprano sax that were configured to be played with one hand apiece; he also developed a double horn, dubbed the Braithophone, which consisted of two sopranos welded together. Braith signed with Blue Note and, in 1963, appeared on John Patton's Blue John and recorded his own debut album, Two Souls in One; it combined soul-jazz and folk melodies, plus the lengthy, popular "Braith-a-Way." His next two Blue Note albums, Soul Stream and Extension, found him continuing to improve his technique and compositional skill, though he began to move away from his two-horn technique. After leaving Blue Note, Braith recorded two sessions for Prestige, 1966's Laughing Soul and 1967's more outside Musart. He also opened a New York club called Musart, which was an important avant-garde venue for several years before Braith moved to Europe and closed it down. Braith eventually returned to New York, where he continued his experiments with multiple horns and worked as both a club and street musician. ~ Steve Huey https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/george-braith/id1098965

Personnel:  George Braith (saxophone), Grant Green (guitar), John Patton (hammond organ), Eddie Diehl (guitar), Ben Dixon (drums), Richard Landrum (percussions), Victor Sproles (bass)

Laughing Soul

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'Big' John Patton - Oh Baby!

Styles: Soul Jazz
Year: 1965
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:48
Size: 94,5 MB
Art: Front

(7:43)  1. Fat Judy
(6:19)  2. Oh Baby
(5:41)  3. Each Time
(7:54)  4. One To Twelve
(6:36)  5. Night Flight
(6:32)  6. Good Juice

Patton's fourth album for Blue Note. Big John Patton with Grant Green on guitar and Harold Vick on tenor sax. With tunes like "Fat Judy" and "Good Juice," there is no worry about there being a groove. The addition of a trumpet (Blue Mitchell) means you have a horn section, and this tends to be a little much now and again.

Although a little on the light side, thanks to Patton and Green, the groove does go down.~Michael Erlewine http://www.allmusic.com/album/oh-baby!-mw0000766666

Personnel: Big John Patton (organ); Grant Green (guitar); Harold Vick (tenor saxophone); Blue Mitchell (trumpet); Ben Dixon (drums).

Oh Baby!

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Big John Patton - Blue John

Styles: Soul Jazz
Year: 1963
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 73:35
Size: 168,8 MB
Art: Front

(7:59)  1. Hot Sauce
(5:59)  2. Bermuda Clay House
(6:17)  3. Dem Dirty Dues
(6:53)  4. Country Girl
(5:34)  5. Nicety
(7:31)  6. Blue John
(9:06)  7. Jean De Fleur (bonus track)
(5:45)  8. Chunky Cheeks (bonus track)
(4:49)  9. I Need You So (bonus track)
(5:05) 10. Kinda Slick (bonus track)
(8:33) 11. Untitled Patton Tune (bonus track)

Insanely wonderful and pretty darn rare! This album by John Patton was cut during the 60s, but never issued until the 80s and even then, only briefly yet it's easily one of our favorite records ever by this legendary Hammond player, thanks to lots of weird twists and turns! Although the record's led by Patton, it's more in the mad style of George Braith who plays some wonderful sax on the session, in the manner of his excellent Laughing Soul album a Prestige Records session cut with Patton and Grant Green around the same time. The vibe is very different than some of Patton's other Blue Notes very rhythmically playful, and mixed with mad reed lines from Braith with superbly sharp guitar lines from Grant Green, top trumpet work from Tommy Turrentine, and this great sense of skittish rhythm from the always-amazing drummer Ben Dixon. Titles include "Hot Sauce", "Bermuda Clay House", "Nicety", and "Blue John". Includes the bonus tracks "Jean De Fleur", "Chunky Cheeks", "Kinda Slick" & "Untitled Patton Tune"https://www.dustygroove.com/item/700809

Personnel:  John Patton – organ;  Tommy Turrentine - trumpet (track 5);  George Braith - soprano saxophone, stritch;  Grant Green – guitar;  Ben Dixon - drums

Blue John

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Various - Blue Bossa

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 68:40
Size: 157.2 MB
Styles: Latin Jazz
Year: 1992
Art: Front

[4:18] 1. Horace Parlan - Congalegre
[3:53] 2. Charlie Rouse - Back To The Tropics
[7:20] 3. Big John Patton - Latona
[3:28] 4. Duke Pearson - Sandalia Dela
[3:09] 5. Ike Quebec - Loie
[3:31] 6. Cannonball Adderley - Sambop
[5:02] 7. Kenny Dorham - Afrodisia
[5:47] 8. Grant Green - Mambo Inn
[4:56] 9. Horace Silver - The Cape Verdean Blues
[6:17] 10. Andrew Hill - Mira
[8:09] 11. Hank Mobley - Recado Bossa Nova
[5:30] 12. Lou Donaldson - South Of The Border
[7:14] 13. Donald Byrd - Ghana

This compilation should be titled Blue Latin because it's more of a sampler of various Latin jazz styles than just a bossa nova-jazz mix. In an age of overzealous marketing and grab-bag reissues, though, the oversight is understandable. Thankfully, the misguided approach doesn't dim the quality of this very enjoyable Blue Note release. The six actual bossa nova tracks in the collection -- out of 14 -- range from effervescent, hard bop treatments by Hank Mobley ("Recado Bossa Nova") and Cannonball Adderly ("Sambop") to languid ballad renditions by Ike Quebec ("Loie") and Eliane Elias ("Waters of March/Agua de Beber"). The most authentic and best of the bunch is Duke Pearson's "Sandalia Dela," which spotlights Brazilian stars Airto Moreira and Flora Purim. Another standout is John Patton's B-3 organ bossa "Latona," which features inspired solos by guitarist Grant Green and vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson. Throughout this collection, in fact, excellent solos and support abound by the likes of Lee Morgan, Joe Henderson, Willie Bobo, Dom Um Romao, Nana Vasconcelos, Horace Silver, and J.J. Johnson, among others. The remaining numbers on Blue Bossa showcase everything from mambos to calypso. The highlights here include Horace Parlan's piano trio number "Congalegre," Kenny Dorham's superbly arranged, large ensemble original "Afrodesia," and Donald Byrd's cool cooker "Ghana." If you fancy more authentic Brazilian jazz, bossa nova, or otherwise, then check out Blue Note's excellent Blue Brazil series, which features Brazilian musicians exclusively. If you are a jazz fan with a yen for Stan Getz and the whole stateside bossa nova craze of the '60s, then Blue Bossa is a great buy. ~Stephen Cook

Blue Bossa

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Big John Patton - Soul Connection

Size: 98,7 MB
Time: 40:11
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 1983/2008
Styles: Jazz: Soul Jazz, Hammond Organ
Art: Front

01. Soul Connection ( 9:45)
02. Pinto ( 5:16)
03. Extensions ( 6:48)
04. Space Station ( 5:36)
05. The Coaster (12:43)

The Hammond B-3 soul-jazz sound of Big John Patton (as he was then called) was perfect for the 1960s. It was the groove that drew attention and Patton made several albums for Blue Note. As his style went out of favor, some of the recordings never saw the light of day until almost 20 years later and at the same time Patton slipped into the background. He resurfaced in the 1980s and went into the studio. Among his albums Soul Connection, originally released in 1983 on Nilva Records (the label owned by drummer Alvin Queen) has now been re-released.

Patton had a strong band with him on this record. Trombonist Grachan Moncur III fits in just nicely. Moncur never shies from a challenge and his playing here is strong and imaginative. Guitarist Melvin Sparks has found his calling in several hyphenated jazz genres including acid, soul and funk, and saxophonist Grant Reed has played with Mongo Santamaria. Queen has a lively history having been part of the sound set up by Junior Mance, Stanley Turrentine and Charles Tolliver, among others. The band is the perfect conglomeration for the music here.

The title track kicks off the jam, with Moncur and Reed setting up the soul-jazz atmosphere. The melody grabs instantly and once the horns are established, Patton comes in. He stays with the melody but extrapolates it with a compact sense of direction, ringing the changes with just a little grease to slip and slide in and out of the groove. Reed injects boppish lines to give the tune a nice change of direction.

The band is in its element as they make "Extensions" swing. Sparks literally fires the first salvo with notes that light up the melody as he plays with an easy gait. Reed is hardy, hitting the deep end with taut notes, once more driving the tune into bop territory. Patton changes the tenor, the organ providing a lighter air as he prances lithely while Queen pushes the front line with his crisp accents and sense of rhythm. It all falls neatly into place.

Time has not effaced nor worn the impact of this music. It is still relevant, making this a welcome re-issue. ~by Jerry D'Souza

Personnel: John Patton: Hammond B-3 organ; Grachan Moncur III: trombone; Grant Reed: tenor sax; Melvin Sparks: guitar; Alvin Queen: drums.

Soul Connection

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John Patton - The Capitol Vaults Jazz Series (3-Disc Set)

John Patton, often known as Big John Patton, was one of Blue Note's busiest soul-jazz organists during the golden age of the Hammond B-3s. Between 1963 and 1970 Patton cooked up 11 albums' worth of material as a leader and sat in with a dizzying procession of skilled improvisers, and his best work has since been compared with that of tragically short-lived innovator Larry Young. Patton also enjoyed a long overdue comeback during the '90s when he collaborated with saxophonist and composer John Zorn.

Patton was born in Kansas City, MO, on July 12, 1935. His mother was a church pianist who encouraged her son to learn the instrument, which he began to play regularly at the age of 13. During the mid-'50s Patton worked in bands accompanying rhythm & blues singer Lloyd Price. By 1961 he had switched over to the organ, advancing along the trail blazed by Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott, and Brother Jack McDuff. It was alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson who initially took Patton the organist into a recording studio -- first on May 9, 1962, to tape an LP to be called The Natural Soul, then on January 24, 1963, for a lengthy session that yielded enough material for the albums Good Gracious and Signifyin'.

On February 2, 1963, Patton sat in -- playing only the tambourine -- on Jimmy Smith's Rockin' the Boat session. Within weeks he had found his own groove and spent the rest of that year making great music as leader and sideman, exchanging ideas and energies with his close collaborator guitarist Grant Green (on the album Am I Blue?) and with saxophonists George Braith (on Patton's Blue John), Harold Vick (on Steppin' Out!), Johnny Griffin (on Soul Groove), Don Wilkerson (on Shoutin'), and Red Holloway (on Burner). Over the next few years Patton recorded with trumpeter Richard Williams (on Patton's Way I Feel) and vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson (on Patton's Let 'Em Roll), and also appeared as a catalytic agent on Grant Green's album Iron City, George Braith's Laughing Soul, Clifford Jordan's Soul Fountain, and drummer Grassella Oliphant's Grass Is Greener with trumpeter Clark Terry and saxophonist Harold Ousley. In 1968 Patton's recording unit included saxophonists Junior Cook and Harold Alexander. The last of his albums from this period (Accent on the Blues and Memphis to New York Spirit) featured saxophonists Marvin Cabell and George Coleman as well as guitarist James Blood Ulmer.

After 1970 Patton quit the scene for a long while, quietly residing in East Orange, NJ. He contributed to vibraphonist Johnny Lytle's Everything Must Change in 1977, recorded his own Soul Connection in 1983 with guitarist Melvin Sparks and visionary trombonist Grachan Moncur III, then cut two albums with guitarist Jimmy Ponder: Mean Streets: No Bridges (1987) and Jump (1988). Big John Patton's comeback began in 1993-1994 with two albums featuring saxophonist John Zorn: Blue Planet Man and Minor Swing. Here he touched upon edgy ground similar to that which he had explored in 1968. His last major album, This One's for J.A., was recorded in December 1996. On March 19, 2002, 66-year-old John Patton succumbed to diabetes and renal failure. Overshadowed by organists who for one reason or another enjoyed greater popularity, and still underestimated by many jazz critics and historians, Patton and his recorded legacy are ripe and ready for open-minded reevaluation. ~bio by arwulf arwulf

Album: The Capitol Vaults Jazz Series (Disc1)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 71:17

Size: 163.2 MB

Styles: Hard bop, Soul jazz

Year: 2011

[5:38] 1. The Silver Meter

[5:01] 2. I'll Never Be Free

[5:58] 3. Spiffy Diffy

[5:59] 4. Along Came John

[5:59] 5. Gee Gee

[5:41] 6. Pig Foots

[7:26] 7. The Rock

[8:36] 8. The Way I Feel

[6:42] 9. Jerry

[7:22] 10. Davene

[6:49] 11. Just 3 4

The Capitol Vaults Jazz Series (Disc1)

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Album: The Capitol Vaults Jazz Series (Disc2)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 61:50

Size: 141.6 MB

Styles: Hard bop, Soul jazz

Year: 2011

[7:38] 1. Fat Judy, Pt. 1

[6:15] 2. Oh Baby

[5:36] 3. Each Time

[7:49] 4. One To Twelve

[6:32] 5. Night Flight

[6:29] 6. Good Juice

[5:39] 7. String Bean

[8:33] 8. I Want To Go Home

[7:15] 9. Early A.M

The Capitol Vaults Jazz Series (Disc2)

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Album: The Capitol Vaults Jazz Series (Disc3)

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 58:20

Size: 133.5 MB

Styles: Hard bop, Soul jazz

Year: 2011

Art: Front

[6:06] 1. Dirty Fingers

[6:36] 2. Minor Swing

[6:44] 3. Daddy James

[5:32] 4. Ding Dong

[9:08] 5. Congo Chant

[4:38] 6. Alfie's Theme

[6:07] 7. Soul Man

[6:52] 8. Understanding

[6:33] 9. Chitlins Con Carne

The Capitol Vaults Jazz Series (Disc3) 

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Grant Green - Am I Blue

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s

Time: 41:43

Size: 95.5 MB

Styles: Hard bop, Guitar jazz, Soul-jazz

Year: 1963/1994/2007

Art: Front

[ 6:52] 1. Am I Blue

[ 6:08] 2. Take These Chains From My Heart

[ 7:34] 3. I Wanna Be Loved

[ 7:12] 4. Sweet Slumber

[13:57] 5. For All We Know

A severely underrated player during his lifetime, Grant Green is one of the great unsung heroes of jazz guitar. Like Stanley Turrentine, he tends to be left out of the books. Although he mentions Charlie Christian and Jimmy Raney as influences, Green always claimed he listened to horn players (Charlie Parker and Miles Davis) and not other guitar players, and it shows. No other player has this kind of single-note linearity (he avoids chordal playing). There is very little of the intellectual element in Green's playing, and his technique is always at the service of his music. And it is music, plain and simple, that makes Green unique. ~Blue Note

This quintet date by guitarist Grant Green was one of the last of his Blue Note albums to be reissued on CD, and it is somewhat clear why. The musicians (Green, trumpeter Johnny Coles, tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, organist John Patton, and drummer Ben Dixon) play well enough, but there are few inspiring moments. The material is not all that exciting, and the laid-back feeling sometimes leads to dull moments. Most of the fire is provided by Henderson, but such songs as "Am I Blue," "I Wanna Be Loved," and a nearly 14-minute version of "For All We Know" are a bit sleepy. Although certainly listenable enough, this is one of Grant Green's lesser efforts from the 1960s. ~Scott Yanow

Am I Blue

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John Patton - Along Came John

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 34:19
Size: 78.6 MB
Styles: Organ jazz, Soul jazz
Year: 1963/2009
Art: Front

[5:38] 1. The Silver Meter
[5:00] 2. I'll Never Be Free
[5:58] 3. Spiffy Diffy
[6:00] 4. Along Came John
[5:59] 5. Gee Gee
[5:42] 6. Pig Foots

By the time John Patton recorded Along Came John, his debut as a leader, he had already become a familiar name around the Blue Note studios. He, guitarist Grant Green, and drummer Ben Dixon had become the label's regular soul-jazz rhythm section, playing on sessions by Lou Donaldson, Don Wilkerson, and Harold Vick, among others. They had developed an intuitive, empathetic interplay that elevated many of their sessions to near-greatness, at least in the realm of soul-jazz. That's one of the reasons why Along Came John is so successful -- the three know each other so well that their grooves are totally natural, which makes them quite appealing. These original compositions may not all be memorable, but the band's interaction, improvisation, and solos are. Tenor saxophonists Fred Jackson and Harold Vick provide good support, as well, but the show belongs to Patton, Green, and Dixon, who once again prove they are one of the finest soul-jazz combos of their era. ~Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Along Came John

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Big John Patton - Got A Good Thing Goin'

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 36:36
Size: 83.8 MB
Styles: Hard bop, Organ jazz, Guitar jazz
Year: 1966/2003
Art: Front

[8:14] 1. The Yodel
[7:47] 2. Soul Woman
[6:43] 3. Ain't That Peculiar
[7:44] 4. The Shake
[6:06] 5. Amanda

Grant Green always brought out the best in Big John Patton. Almost any record that featured the guitarist and organist was dominated by their scintillating interplay, and it always sounded like they were trying to top each other's blistering, funky solos. Patton and Green rarely sounded better than they did on Got a Good Thing Goin', a 1966 session that functioned as a showcase for the pair's dynamic interaction and exciting, invigorating solos. In particular, the duo's mastery is evident because there are no horns to stand in the way -- only drummer Hugh Walker and conga player Richard Landrum provide support, leaving plenty of room for Green and Patton to run wild. All five numbers -- two originals by Patton and Green, two pop covers ("Ain't That Peculiar," "Shake"), and Duke Pearson's "Amanda" -- are simple blues and soul-jazz songs that provide ample space for the guitarist and organist to stretch out. And they do stretch out -- as a pair, they have never sounded so fiery or intoxicating. Fans of hard bop may find the songs a little too simple, but hot, up-tempo soul-jazz rarely comes any better than it does on Got a Good Thing Goin'. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on April 29, 1966.

John Patton (organ); Grant Green (guitar); Richard Landrum (conga); Hugh Walker (drums).

Got A Good Thing Goin'

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