Friday 4 September 2009

Richard ‘Groove’ Holmes ”Groovin’ With Jug” (With Gene Ammons)

Richard ‘Groove’ Holmes

Groovin’ With Jug
(With Gene Ammons)
( LP Pacific Jazz Records, 1961 )
Catalog # 3093

Tracklisting:
1.Happy Blues (Good Vibrations)
2.Willow Weep For Me
3.Juggin’ Around
4.Hittin’ The Jug (aka Swan Blues)
5.Exactly Like You
6.Groovin’ With Jug
7.Morris The Minor
8.Hey You, What’s That?

Personnel & Credits:
Richard “Groove” Holmes (organ);
Gene Ammons (tenor saxophone);
Gene Edwards (guitar);
Leroy Henderson (drums).
Recorded at The Black Orchid and Pacific Jazz Studio,
Los Angeles, California on August 15, 1961.

Review:
Richard Groove Holmes’ trio supports Gene Ammons beautifully on this half-live, half-studio 1961 album. They dig into gems like “Happy Blues,” “Willow Weep For Me” and the title tune with feeling and intelligence. Added to the original album are 2 bonus tracks.
Ironically, Gene “Jug” Ammons tended to be critical of organists; he was quoted as saying that “organ players don’t know any changes.” However, as critical the Chicago tenor saxman might have been of organists — most of them, anyway — he did some of his best work in their presence. When you united Ammons with Jack McDuff, Johnny “Hammond” Smith and other B-3 masters in the ’60s, the sparks would fly. They certainly fly on this excellent album, which finds Ammons and Richard “Groove” Holmes co-leading a soul-jazz/hard bop organ combo that also includes guitarist Gene Edwards and drummer Leroy Henderson. The quartet is heard in two settings on August 15, 1961 — three of the eight selections were produced by Richard Bock in a Los Angeles studio in the afternoon, while the other five were recorded several hours later an L.A. club called the Black Orchid. Ammons and Holmes prove to be a strong combination in both settings, although their playing is somewhat looser at the Orchid, where the delights include some slow blues (Ammons’ “Hittin’ the Jug”), a smoky ballad (”Willow Weep for Me”) and a lightning-fast barnburner (Ammons’ “Juggin’ Around”). However critical Ammons might have been of most organists, it’s obvious that he and Holmes share a lot of common ground on Groovin’ With Jug.
Alex Henderson (AMG)

By Pier

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