Blue Train
John ColtraneJohn Coltrane - Blue Train
Happy Birthday Coltrane
i bit he’s playing sax in haven
Listen
Stanley Turrentine
The Hustler
Hustlin’
Bluenote, 1964
This a typically excellent recording from the husband-wife team of tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine and organist Shirley Scott. With assistance from guitarist Kenny Burrell, bassist Bob Cranshaw, and drummer Otis Finch, Turrentine (who always had the skill of playing melodies fairly straight but with his own brand of soul) and Scott dig into “Love Letters,” Lloyd Price’s “Trouble,” “Something Happens to Me,” a couple of basic originals, and “Goin’ Home.” The Turrentine-Scott team never made an unworthy disc; all are easily recommended, including this one.
Listen
Stanley Turrentine
Mattie T
Joyride
Bluenote, 1965
Stanley Turrentine is the featured artist in this big band session with an all-star orchestra arranged and conducted by Oliver Nelson. While Nelson’s charts are funky and easygoing (without providing any solo space for the likes of Phil Woods, Clark Terry, and Jay Jay Johnson), they serve the purpose to inspire the tenor saxophonist. Turrentine is quite soulful on Percy Mayfield’s “River’s Invitation,” and his huge tone carries the day in a waltzing chart of the 1960s hit “A Taste of Honey.” The artist also contributed some originals to the date, including the easygoing “Little Sheri,” which features the unison flutes ofDanny Bank and Jerry Dodgion, and “Mattie T,” a gospel-like song that almost seems like a march.
