Customer Reviews

Worm

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

 

 

McGriff masterfully doles out a quality piece of work here. This is a page right out of Blue Notes classic history book. McGriff fronts a classic blues band setup with a perfectly balanced brass section and a swinging rhythm section. Smartly McGriff employed the help of legendary drummers Grady Tate and Mel Lewis who take turns laying down the foundation for some rocking funk grooves and then was able to show case the beautiful talents of Blue Note great Blue Mitchell on trumpet. Each tune is better then the next and over all leave you wanting more. I highly recommend not only this release but also many of the Blue Note era releases by Jimmy McGriff.

You can't go wrong with this, recorded in 1968 it features the great Hammond Organ playing of Jimmy McGriff with a fantastic band:

Blue Mitchell - Trumpet
Danny Turner - Alto Sax
Fats Theus - Tenor Sax
Bob Ashton - Baritone Sax
Thornel Schwartz - Guitar
Bob Bushell - Electric Bass
Grady Tate or Mel Lewis - Drums

There isn't a bad track on the album, but with the line-up above there isn't as much of McGriff as I'd have liked. The best track for me (after only one listen) is Keep Loose which is 5:54 long. The first 4 mins are just Organ/Bass & drums and McGriff builds up quite a head of steam on this, and only in the last minute or so does another soloist get a chance! This is McGriff at his best, hard-driving bluesy Organ playing that just romps along. If your feet don't tap to this you must be dead!
I wish there was a few more tracks like that, some of the others get close but none are quite as exciting.

This is just totally classic. It's a non-stop album that keep laying out funky tracks - there is no junk on this CD and it stays focussed from start to finish. When you look at the cover and see the title "the worm", you know that this just has to be something with a bit of attitude and it is. Jimmy's Organ smokes, but then so does the trumpet that comes out of nowhere to take things up a gear at various points through the album. Put this CD on and the atmosphere suddenly comes alive. It's totally fun and totally infectious - try standing still. I highly recommend it.

If you are looking for great-soul jazz, listen to the Worm by Jimmy McGriff.

Jimmy Smith may be crowned of soul jazz, McGriff does the genre as well. The blues structures are the same, but McGriff used bigger horn arrangements--I know, Smith did those albums with Oliver Nelson and Lalo Shifrin, but McGriff used horns on his routine one offs.

McGriff also has a heavier touch on the organ, and in general, drives the instrument harder than the laid back Smith. Listen to how he pumps and layers the organ in the lower registers.

Soul Jazz is never an exersize in abstraction or origionality, but it sure is a hell of fun.

This CD is an important part of music history. We may never see a human so in tune with the hammond organ again. Hell- they hardly make these things anymore! Good jazz, blues and funk.

As someone that knew Jimmy many years ago in Hartford Ct. I love hearing this music! Takes me back to T-Bone's! Ahh the good old days!

This is the only Jimmy McGriff album I own among 20 or so B-3 soul-jazz albums. It's not bad, but it lacks some energy and it has a low funk factor. Maybe some of his other work is more happenin', but this one is almost . . . corny.
Right now I'm listening to Grant Green's retrospective, disks 1 & 2 feature Grant with an assortment of smokin' organists, every cut just obliterates anything on The Worm.