Brother Jack McDuff - Live! (1963)

Live! The title couldn't be more apt.

A voice announces the first track: "The Front Room (in Chicago) is proud to present America's most exciting jazz organist, Brother Jack McDuff." Then, the unrestrained sound of Brother Jack's Rock Candy . . . and its a live session.

The setting is a club; the mood is Saturday night, a few friends, a couple of drinks and everybody digging the chick in red.

There's no need for pretension on this date. The group obviously loves playing together and enjoys, entertaining a live audience. There's no tortured ex-peri mentation. It, and intricate, time signatures, and the use of wayout things like the carillons at West Point, have their place, i suppose, but not on this round, not on this Saturday night.

That statement may be too self-effacing. While Jack's music is wonderful background for a good time, it also is worthy of close listening. It is a real pleasure to encounter a jazz organist with good taste as well as talent. The jazz organ was relegated to roadhouse atmospheres too long, held back by a preponderance of organists who pulled out all the stops, pushed down the pedals, and blew loud and long. Then along came Jimmy Smith, Jack's proudly-proclaimed major influence, and a small group of individuals who explored the full possibilities of the great instrument. Instead of making noise and not much else, they developed techniques of subtlety and lyricism. Jack is now acknowledged to be one of the most accomplished and inventive of the leaders.

Actually his years as an organist are comparatively few. Born in Champaign, Illinois, Brother Jack played -.piano in the church of his minister-father. With little formal training but with a good ear and a wealth of talent, he decided on a musical career. At that time he also played bass. Getting out of the Navy in 1946 he started to work in the Midwest. Called to New York to join Willis Jackson's group, Jack was forced by economic reality to switch from bass and piano to organ.

Simply, "There weren't enough jobs for piano trios, but we did have a chance for organ jobs, so I switched."

The switch was made with Jack's usual adaptability and was a fortunate one. It led to plenty of work for that group and his subsequent ones, exposure to a large and loyal club audience, and recording opportunities. Saxophonists like Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons particularly enjoy being backed by a big band sound which can also become light and full of nuance.

Live! is an especially happy idea because it features Jack's ,Trent group in the surroundings they enjoy best Against the backstop of his sound and the encouragement of a live-audience move comfortably the fir e lirr-s of George Benson's guitar, the drive Joe Duke s drums, and the power of Red Holloway's tenor.

Another advantage of a live session, besides the audience, is the presence of actual working attitudes. Groups recording in sound studios may be influenced by people with the best of intentions to do material they don't really feel like playing at that moment. On the job, they tend to play their favorites, things they get a kick out of playing. And if you're going to repeat a number over and over for the engineer's machines, you had better enjoy what you're doing. In this case the relaxed atmosphere and the enthusiastic fans have led the group to a variety of tunes and moods.

MoDuff's Rock Candy is a solid swinger that gives all the instrumentalists a chance to blow, and the audience a chance to loosen up. It's impossible to imagine anyone not keeping time to this one. A couple of choruses on the guitar will prove just how well it and an organ can work together. Jack's organ sounds big on his very sweet rock.

A slower pace, a more melancholy approach . . . Gershwin's It Ain't Necessarily So. A lovely melody from Porgy and Bess, this has been played by everybody from Miles Davis to Sammy Davis, Jr. Everybody has a different way of seeing it—happy, cynical, fast, slow. Jack takes it slow with a building of tension between his keyboard and the cymbals.

The currently popular samba beat is represented by Sanctified Samba, a McDuff original. (McDuff regulars will recall that one of his most popular tunes, always requested at public appearances, is Sanctified Waltz. It can be heard on Goodnight, It's Time To Go, Prestige 7220.) This one takes the 4/4 to Sunday school. It's fun.

So is the tune from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Long after everyone had forgotten the names of the seven gentlemen, the public could still whistle the tune. Frankly I've never heard it done by a jazzman before, but Jack uses it to show off his instruments's capabilities.

A McDuff blues, A Rea! Goodur? and the old standard Undecided, add up to more variety and more pleasure.

If you're planning a Saturday night at home, alone or with a big party, let McDuff play Live! for you.

Notes: Eleanor Kennedy (July 1963)
Produced by Lew Fudderman & Peter Paul

- Источник оцифровки: автор новости (plastinka aka nickhome)
- Тип сохранности винила: G
- Проигрыватель: Victor QL-Y44F
- Картридж (звукосниматель): Goldring Elite
- Предварительный усилитель (фонокорректор): Musical Fidelity MX-VYNL
- АЦП: Tascam UH-7000 (ASIO 2.0)
- Обработка: без обработки
- Формат записи (Bit/kHz): 32 float/192