Dorothy Ashby – Afro-Harping Orig. release 1968 Cadet Records / 2018 Geffen / UMe Next to Alice Coltrane, Dorothy Ashby is easily the best-known proponent of “jazz harp.” I mean, it’s not exactly a crowded scene, is it? This record stimulates all my auralgenous zones, drawing on ‘soul jazz’, pop, Latin, post-bop, R&B and proto-funk. …
Grant Green – Alive! 2019 Blue Note 80 Series BST-84360 – Original Release 1970 Absolute barn-stormer of classic soul-jazz funk with a lineup that can’t be beat. Idris Muhammad is at his funkiest, but the other show-stealer is Ronnie Foster on the organ. Lean and mean stuff, if you dig this then you need to…
Lonnie Smith Think! Original release 1969 Blue Note This 2019 reissue, Blue Note 80 Vinyl Reissue Series This week the world of music lost one of the greats of the jazz organ, “Dr.” Lonnie Smith. I regret never having caught him live during his return to the spotlight, as he had quite the career. He…
Chester Thompson – Powerhouse 2021 Real Gone Music RGM-1202 / Original Release 1971 Black Jazz This is a short (seriously short, only 27 minutes) but sweet LP from future Tower of Power and Santana organist, Chester Thompson. Not to be confused with the drummer Chester Thompson, who toured with Genesis in the post-Peter Gabriel…
Gene Russell New Direction Real Gone Music RGM1018 Released: 29 Aug 2020 Limited Edition, RSD exclusive, Clear with Black Swirl US Original release on BLACK JAZZ RECORDS as BJ/1 in 1971 Well, it has been nearly two months since my last post here. I had planned to share this record at the beginning of the…
Roy Ayers Ubiquity – Live At The Montreux Jazz Festival Original release 1972 Polydor (Japan) 1996 CD reissue Verve Records 314531641-2 Dipping back into the Roy Ayers Ubiquity catalog, this live performance hails from pretty early in their trajectory, and this version was expanded from the original LP to include 4 extra tracks for what…
