Jack McDuff

Representative of a certain time and place this live two CD set by Brother Jack McDuff captures a period in 1972 when the 1960s soul-jazz boom had faded and the organist was meeting changing times by playing pop tunes like the title track. Though the combo was expanded with a horn section and guitarist Vinnie Corrao was encouraged to emphasize the wah-wah pedal, the 10 tunes avoid simplistic formulas that would culminate in disco and smooth jazz within a few years.

Yet McDuff, who was born on September 17 in 1926, and died in 2001, may have kept arrangements tight and measured but without neglecting the loose swing that characterized his music since he began recording in 1960. Ballads, blues, pop or jazz tunes all move with a foot tapping pulse. This is mostly attributable to the organist’s concentrated bass line – he was originally a bassist – complemented by emotional resonations from the instrument’s top keys and intensified by brief but solid soloing from Corrao, saxophonists Leo Johnson and Dave Young, drummer Ron Davis and on several tracks an unknown trumpeter.

McDuff was also wedded to the jazz tradition. Note that the band’s variations on “Three Blind Mice” take off from the Jazz Messengers’ version; it adds an “April in Paris” ending to “Blues 1 and 8”; includes songbook standards and emphasizes the blues feelings that often arose from the spaces between the notes.

Featuring more McDuff originals, the group sounds more confident on the second disc, working up a head of stream on the first “Unknown” track and going on from there. But there are stand-out passages on many tracks. Johnson’s light flute peeps may be prominent on “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “6:30 In The Morning”, but by pairing them with the horns’ jackknife riffs on the first tune and sluicing, upward organ extensions on the second, needless prettiness is avoided. McDuff’s vision is original enough to match Johnson’s woody clarinet with comprehensive organ juddering on “Middle Class Folk Song”. Plus whether the track has a late-night club feel or near-danceable beats, each player gets several breaks range from Davis’ solid expression on Latin percussion to hard bop-like snarls from a trumpet/tenor team, to an interlude on “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” where the saxophone slurs are honied, furry and defiantly pre-modern.

Made up of previously unissued tapes, this set is a valuable addition to the McDuff catalogue.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: CD1: 1. Theme From Electric Surfboard 2. Three Blind Mice 3. Ain’t No Sunshine 4. I’m Getting Sentimental Over You 5. Blues 1 & 8 CD2*: 1. Unknown Title# 2. The Jolly Black Giant 3. Middle Class Folk Song 4. 6:30 In The Morning 5. Broadway (incomplete)

Personnel: Unknown (trumpet)*; Leo Johnson (tenor saxophone, flute, clarinet); Dave Young tenor, soprano saxophones); Jack McDuff (Hammond organ); Vinnie Corrao (guitar) and Ron Davis (drums)