 Stanley Turrentine with the Three Sounds This is a classic album that tends to get kinda overlooked in the shadow of the real heavyweight Blue Notes (Idle Moments, Point of Departure, The All Seeing Eye, and on and on and on). Stan the Man, whose unexpected passing in 2000 was itself not properly heralded, was really one of the greatest. He was a titan, though a gentle one. He didn't set out to explode the instrument or the music. He just played it straight-on, and played it damn fucking good. Blue Hour is in many respects the prototypical Blue Note – from the cover art on, it's what most people would immediately think of if you said "Blue Note" or "late night jazz" or possibly even just "cool." It's one of many albums on which Stanley shines in the presence of a strong collaborator. His albums with organists Jimmy Smith and Shirley Scott are well-known and justly appreciated, but his work with Gene Harris here is truly splendid. Harris is another one who really has never gotten his due. In both cases, it may be that these guys just didn't make serious enough music. Honestly, though … at the end of the day – and I mean at the actual end of the day, what do you want to kick back to? Hey, I love Wayne Shorter, but nothing takes the edge off like some rolling sax lines by T. This disc is all about Turrentine. The Three Sounds are an ideal support for him, and Harris gets in some awesome piano solos, but really, it's the Stanley show. The songs are mainly standards, plus one Harris original ("Blue Riff") very much in the spirit of the rollickin' Three Sounds albums from the early 60s. All the cuts are great, with "Since I Fell For You" being absolutely perfect – damn near makes me get on my knees and beg to be taken back to Heaven, 'cause my work here is done. Oh, wait, it's not done, I still have 400 more CDs on my desk that I need to review. Oh, come on, Big G, take me home, so I can jam with Stan the Man. OK, enough of that. "Willow Weep For Me" is great, as it always is. Turrentine's tone is bold and full of emotion, the sax equivalent of Al Green's voice. T was a superhero, man, he was like the jazz equivalent of, maybe Swamp Thing? Sensitive and strong. I better stop before I start drawing all sorts of half-baked comparisons between Blue Note jazz titans and DC Comics characters. In fact, I probably should have stopped already. Blue Note has reissued Blue Hour as a two-disc set featuring the complete sessions for the album. Hoo-ah, more of a very good thing! Lemme at it.
Review by Regina Angina |