Along with his husky, unequivocally masculine, blues-infused tone, Stanley Turrentine belongs to an elite group of saxophonists who developed a particular sound that may simply be recognized after listening to simply two or three notes. In an interview from 1974, the Pittsburgh-born tenor participant revealed that his father instilled in him at an early age the necessity to develop his personal voice. “When I was younger, my lesson for the day would be one note,” he remembered. “My father would say, ‘Stand in the corner and play a note.’” Although this disciplined and laborious strategy initially mystified the younger Stanley, he realized the worth in his father’s recommendation. “There’s so many ways you can hit one note,” he later stated. “There’s a way you attack the note, the way you breathe, how much air you put into the horn, the vibrato.” Turrentine developed his strategy throughout a string of albums for Blue Observe Information, starting together with his 1960 debut for the label, Look Out!.
The session
When it comes to his sound, Turrentine was already his personal man when he entered audio engineer Rudy Van Gelder’s New Jersey studio on Saturday, June 18, 1960, to document his first album as a pacesetter for Blue Observe Information. His solely earlier recording expertise had been as a part of drummer Max Roach’s group in 1959 (he’d additionally recorded with Roach’s spouse, Abbey Lincoln), however a yr later, having impressed Blue Observe’s co-founder, producer Alfred Lion, he confirmed that he was able to put his sideman days behind him on the age of 26.
For the session, Turrentine introduced in pianist Horace Parlan, who, just like the saxophonist, was additionally from Pittsburgh and had recorded his debut album for Blue Observe earlier within the yr; bassist George Tucker, who’d performed on Eric Dolphy’s debut album a few months previous to the session; and drummer Al Harewood, whose credit included Kai Winding & JJ Johnson, and Benny Golson. Regardless of being comparatively younger males, they have been additionally seasoned musicians whose expertise was mirrored within the ease with which they blended on Look Out!.
The album
Three of the LP’s six cuts have been written by Turrentine, the primary being the opening title monitor: a loose-limbed, toe-tapping groove in a soul jazz mode. Turrentine’s sax is relaxed and conversational in tone, its sinuous, flowing melodic phrases imbued with a meld of blues and gospel cadences. Parlan takes the second solo; his tone is gentle and percussive even when he performs chunky block chords. In the meantime, beneath, the groove cooked up by Tucker and Harewood simmers like a succulent soul stew.
The sluggish romantic ballad “Journey Into Melody” (initially a syrupy 50s TV theme penned by Canadian composer Robert Farnon and performed by his orchestra) permits Turrentine to point out sensitivity and a lyrical side to his enjoying. It’s the right after-hours chill-out groove.
A quick flourish from Al Harewood’s drums opens “Return Engagement,” a Horace Parlan tune that, regardless of its hard-swinging groove – propelled by George Tucker’s speed-walking bass – may be very gentle on its toes. Despite its gruffness, Turrentine’s saxophone is nearly ethereal in its suppleness. Close to the top, the group “trade fours” (alternate four-bar passages) with drummer Harewood.
The album’s killer minimize is the Turrentine-written “Little Sheri,” which opened facet two of the unique vinyl (an edited model was additionally launched as a single). It’s a midtempo minimize with an infectious refrain welded to an irresistible groove.
Against this, the sooner “Tiny Capers” – a tune written by 50s arduous bop trumpeter Clifford Brown – is a fluid automobile for Turrentine’s roving saxophone, which strikes an ideal equilibrium between approach and feeling. The saxophonist’s composition “Minor Chant” is extra meditative: a midtempo swinger highlighting the breathy, nearly Ben Webster-like sonorities of Turrentine’s distinctive tenor sax. Additionally noteworthy is an improvised passage by Tucker, which echoes Parlan’s earlier piano solo by quoting from the gospel quantity “Wade In The Water” (a couple of years earlier than it was a pop hit for Ramsey Lewis). Taking us to church, it closes Look Out! on a satisfyingly euphoric notice.
The legacy
With its eye-grabbing exclamation mark, the album title was supposed as an invite quite than a warning, alerting the jazz fan to one thing exceptional inside. Although Stanley Turrentine would go on to rack up nearly 30 recording classes for Blue Observe within the 60s, earlier than departing for brand spanking new adventures elsewhere, Look Out! paperwork a major second in time – step one in a prolific and storied recording profession.
Order Stanley Turrentine’s Look Out! on vinyl now.
