Customer Reviews

Blues Groove

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hank Crawford and Jimmy McGriff have teamed up several times over the past few years to produce some fine jazz material. Among those recordings is the 1999, 5 star release "Crunch Time". Unfortunately, this CD, released by Telarc in 1996, does not seem to be on par with any of the subsequent recordings. While this CD has its moments--"Lew's Piece" and "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", on the whole its emphasis seems to be heavily weighted on McGriff's XB-3 organ. As such, the fine sax playing of Crawford gets a little lost. While titled "Blues Groove", there is little, if any, blues to be found here. Rather, it is a straight ahead Jazz disc. Those interested in this collaboration should consider buying "Crunch Time" as a better alternative.

I have always really liked the collaborations of Jimmy McGriff and Hank Crawford. Blues-based jazz with a great groove. They employ guitar players and drummers whose talents are perfectly suited to support this infectious groove. This is a cool album with a great rendition of "All Blues".

I have been playing the blues for almost 50 years. I sit-in at two different Hammond B-3 led jazz jams a week out here in Phoenix. I grew into jazz in NYC hearing everyone from Jimmy Rushing to Thelonius Monk LIVE from about 10 feet away! And THIS is one of my very favorite albums in my whole collection. I love working to it. I love chillin' to it. I love making love to it. It offers every style of funk-jazz. It swings. It brings the blues foundation of jazz out and puts it front and center. So, yeah, it is jazz, as the other comment says. But it is definitely jazz with its grooviest blues groove on. Plus, the recording quality is fabulously clear with great tonalities.