Saturday 22 August 2009

Willis Jackson ”More Gravy/Boss Shoutin”’

Willis Jackson

”More Gravy/Boss Shoutin”’
( Prestige Records, 1963/1964 )



PRLP 7317 Willis Jackson – More Gravy
Frank Robinson (tp)
Willis Jackson (ts)
Carl Wilson (org)
Pat Azzara (Pat Martino) (g)
Sam Jones (b)
Joe Hadrick (d)
Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, October 24, 1963
Tracklisting:
Pool Shark
Somewhere Along The Way
Struffin’
Nurther’n Like Thuther’n
More Gravy
Fiddin’


PR 7329 Willis Jackson – Boss Shoutin’
Frank Robinson (tp)
Willis Jackson (ts)
Carl Wilson (org)
Pat Martino (g)
George Tucker (b)
Joe Hadrick (d)
Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, January 9, 1964
Tracklisting:
Boss St. Louis Blues
Que Sera Sweetie
Nice And Easy
Your Wonderful Love
Shoutin’

Review1 (Nuther’n Like Thuther’n (More Gravy-Boss Shoutin’) Re-Issue):
Here’s the bad news: A lot of worthwhile soul-jazz albums that were recorded for small, obscure labels in the ’60s are likely to remain out of print. If the rare organ/tenor date that you’re longing to hear came out on a tiny label that someone was operating out of his/her two-bedroom rowhouse in South Philadelphia, you had best do a lot of searching at your favorite vinyl gathering. Now, here’s the good news: A lot of great soul-jazz was recorded for Prestige in the ’60s, and Fantasy (which owns the Prestige catalog) is quite good about reissuing Prestige titles. In 2002, Fantasy reissued two more Willis “Gator” Jackson titles (1963’s More Gravy and 1964’s Boss Shoutin’) back to back on the 67-minute record Nuther’n Like Thuther’n. Neither album is unique or revolutionary, but both are excellent, highly rewarding examples of the type of groove-oriented soul-jazz/hard bop that Jackson was recording for Prestige in the early ’60s. Most of the musicians who join Jackson on More Gravy also join him on Boss Shoutin’, including organist Carl Wilson, guitarist Pat Martino, drummer Joe Hadrick, and the underexposed trumpeter Frank Robinson. However, there are two acoustic bassists: Sam Jones on More Gravy and George Tucker on Boss Shoutin’. Both albums point to the fact that, although the Gator of 1963-1964 was calmer than the Gator of the late ’40s and early ’50s, he still had a big tone and brought a lot of passion to his tenor. This is true on 12-bar jazz blues grooves like “Pool Shark” and “Shoutin’”; it is true on an unlikely Latin boogaloo interpretation of W.C. Handy’s “St. Louis Blues” and emotional ballad statements such as “Your Wonderful Love” and “Somewhere Along the Way.” Soul-jazz enthusiasts can’t go wrong with this fine set.
By Alex Henderson (AMG)

Review2 (Nuther’n Like Thuther’n (More Gravy-Boss Shoutin’) Re-Issue):
This reissue pulls together 2 great albums recorded during Jackson’s prime mid-60s period, More Gravy & Boss Shoutin’ — when it seemed like Willis just couldn’t miss! The first features the excellent long groover “Nuther’n Like Thuther’n” — which has an amazing spinning bossa groove that will never let you down — plus some other groovers like “Pool Shark” and “Stuffin”. The group’s totally tight, totally hard, and features his best accompanists — Carl Wilson on organ, and Pat Martino on guitar. The tracks on Boss Shoutin’ are also nice & long, with a great rolling McDuff-ish groove — and lots of nice twists and turns that keep everything groovy, and the whole album from being just a run of the mill organ/tenor session. Even the snoozy titled “Boss St. Louis Blues” is a groover — and other cuts include “Que Sera, Sweetie”, “Shoutin”, and “Your Wonderful Love”. Very deep dope groove to this one!
© 1996-2009, Dusty Groove America, Inc.

”More Gravy” also on Orgy In Rhythm blog

Courtesy of Jazzmaniac

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://rapidshare.com/files/266576218/WJmore.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/266576645/WJBoss.rar.html

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Bill said...

EXCELLENT Gator post! Thanks!

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