 Larry Young Larry Young is one of the most subtle jazz organ players I've heard; not fiery and precise like Jimmy Smith, but also not quite so "groovin'" as some of the later cats (John Patton, Reuben Wilson). His sound is warm and understated, using a lot of space rather than trying to fill it with flurry of notes. To me, he's sort of the organ equivalent of Bobby Hutcherson or Miles Davis, in that he took the instrument to a totally new place by freeing it from its previous role as a "burnin'" solo showpiece. Into Somethin' captures a 1964 session with Young backed by a pretty unbeatable band: Sam Rivers on sax, Grant Green on guitar, and Elvin Jones on drums. All of these guys were pretty much in that less radical part of the '60's jazz avant garde that was less concerned with freedom and more with new approaches to harmony and melodic construction. Critics have compared Larry Young to Coltrane, although if that's the case it's more the late 50's Coltrane than the late 60s sheets-of-sound Coltrane. The session is magnificent, another near-perfect Blue Note release that cooks but stays cool. "Tyrone" is a catchy organ vamp not dissimilar to some of Lou Donaldson's mid-60s stuff, and features a neary three-minute long organ solo that demonstrates Young's ability to develop ideas over time, almost as though he can calculate how much time he'll need to build from tentative baby steps to full-force wailreally pretty amazing. Grant Green is a great complement to Larry Young's style, giving the CD a real warmth and quite a bit of intensity. Grant's "Plaza De Toros" follows, one of his Latin fetish songs, featuring some realy subtle tenor sax effects by Rivers (one of the more underrated sax guys of the era). "Paris Eyes" is a misty little shuffle, again showing Young's melodic conception; "Backup" is a blues that doesn't sound like a blues. Young's compositions find ways of twisting the expected forms around so you are continually surprised (though never shocked). The CD closes with two versions of "Ritha," the first not featuring Rivers and the second featuring the full quartet. Both are excellent (the quartet version is a bonus track, another case of Blue Note leaving wonderful material in the can). Into Somethin' is not as immediate as, say, an Oscar Peterson album, but bears out repeated listenings with much revelation. The players play with integrity, not delivering the usual cocktail jazz, but reaching toward a new form of understatement. Laconic jazz, but it says a lot.
Review by Kimberley Meow |