Customer Reviews

Rough N Tumble

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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This album is a prime example of soul-jazz, even though it doesn't feature the Hammond B-3 organ that is so characteristic of the genre. Most of the tunes are based on the blues scales and gospel rhythms that are the essence of soul-jazz, which largely distinguish it from the earlier jazz genres of dixieland, swing, and bebop.

The presence of McCoy Tyner, Pepper Adams, James Spaulding, Blue Mitchell, Grant Green, Bob Cranshaw, and Mickey Roker, along with arrangements by Duke Pearson, should give this enough jazz credentials to satisfy most listeners. It's not the hard bop or post-bop that Tyner is mostly associated with, but this was early in his career, before his style was fully developed.

Stanley was capable of playing more harmonically advanced material, but this is representative of his strength, which is more about tone and timbre than navigating complex chord changes. Legendary audio engineer Rudy Van Gelder was also on board to ensure that the proceedings were captured as accurately as possible with the technology of the era. At about 38 minutes, the playing time is brief by the modern standard of CD, but it's all good.

Pepper Adams - Sax (Baritone), Brass
Grant Green - Guitar
Blue Mitchell - Trumpet
Duke Pearson - Arranger
James Spaulding - Sax (Alto)
Stanley Turrentine - Sax (Tenor)
Bob Cranshaw - Bass
McCoy Tyner - Piano
Rudy Van Gelder - Engineer
Mickey Roker - Drums

Stanley Turrentine was in the prime of his soul-jazz period on this recording. He always sounded like a one man horn section to me. Pepper Adams (baritone sax), Grant Green (guitar) and Mickey Roker (drums) provide support, I believe for the only time on record. "And Satisfy" shuffles like they just don't shuffle anymore. Mickey Roker plays it sneaky and underhanded at a rapid clip, and doesn't sound like he's breaking a sweat. "Feeling Good" is the best track--if you haven't heard it it is a great introduction to Stanley Turrentine at his absolute best. Blues is in every note. For the jazz "purists", there aren't enough funny notes to make it worth your while. If you love soul/blues music done in a jazz style, you have to check this one out.

There is nobody in the jazz world that can compare to Stanley Turrentine. This cooking cd has fine musicians: Grant Green on guitar (it doesn't get much better) and McCoy Tyner on piano (a tour-de-force experience) to name a few. As for instruments, behold the brass: trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax, and baritone sax.

Add the song-writers: Ray Charles, Leslie Bricusse/Anthony Newley, Sam Cooke, Burt Bacharach/Hal David, and John Hines. Who could be better or sweeter!

While this work is full of gems the one not to miss is the finale "Baptismal". It is over six and one half minutes of magnifique!

While Stanley Turrentine will be missed for not being able to continue his soulful artistry into this century, he has left a great and brilliant body of work behind him. Thank you, Stanley!

This fits in with other Turrentine I've heard from this period. Though the piano replaces the organ that Turrentine, this is firmly in "groove" territory rather than what you'd characterize as straight-ahead hard bop. The rhythm section is heavy, clearly influenced by soul music rather than the light swing of bebop. Stanley takes plenty of solos, but they're more about soul and passion, as well as contrast with the orchestration, rather than navigation a series of chord-based choruses. The other players are mostly in the background, though we get occasional spotlights on a few of them including Blue Mitchell, Grant Green and McCoy Tyner.

The material draws primarily from popular music. The absolute highlight for me are the funky read of Sam Cooke's "Shake", but there isn't a bad tune here. Duke Pearson's orchestrations are a good match for the music.

I'd say The Spoiler, recorded later the same year with a similar lineup, is a better album, but if you like one then the other is worth getting too.

This is a wonderful recording by Stanley Turrentine. His style was very melodic and soulful, able to transport the listener into a state of happiness (no quidding). If you are a jazz fan you should listen to this album, since you won't be deceived. This is no Coltrane or Rollins-like hard bop sax playing, it is much more melodic and easy listening. Even if you are a hard bop lover you will like this, since everyone with a taste for music should love it, in my himble opinion.

mr. turrentine is one of the finest soul jazz parctitioners around. his classic album is "sugar" recorded in the early 70s for CTI, but his work with blue note in the 60s is well worth the trip. he gained notoriety with jimmy smith, and his own albums retain that blues-bop feel and mood to a "t." this album features several r-n-b covers that just boil. highlights are the ray charles tune, "what could i do without you?"; mr. t's reworking of the soul classic, "shake," and finally a swinging "walk on by." the closing "baptismal" is out of place-- a blue note hardbop showcase (and finely done)that seems to add a haute cuisine dessert to a grits and gravy meal. oh, well... mr. turrentine is in fine form as is the larger than usual band, featuring pepper adams on baritone sax, grant green on guitar, blue mitchell on trumpet, and a surprisingly soulful mccoy tyner on piano (he was also in the midst of being in john coltrane's classic free jazz experiments at the time). well worth the price of admission!