One of a three-fer set of CDs that arrived some while back, comprising: Night Glider, New Groove and American Pie, all on the Groove Merchant label (reissued on CD, in Japan, 2018-19).
Real ‘grits n’ gravy’ type soul jazz. A style that I simply adore. Joyful, sometimes quite rambunctious, but always dripping with, well… soul.
And do they groove!? Hell, yeah. Never was a player more aptly named! It may seem odd that there should be organ, electric piano and guitar. But these guys never get in each other’s way.
It’s quite a full and saturated sound. The congas and bongos added to the drums, and the three chordal instruments, as well as a horn duo… Boy does it ever have energy!
Track list
Night Glider (Ott) 5:20
Fly Jack (Ott) 3:34
It’s Going To Take Some Time (King/Stern) 4:30
Pure Sugar Cane (Holmes) 4:59
Go Away Little Girl (Goffin/King) 5:32
One Mint Julep (Toombs) 4:55
Young & Foolish (Hague/Horwitt) 4:22
Personnel:
‘Groove’ Holmes - organ
Seldon Powell - tenor horn
Garnett Brown - ‘bone
Horace Ott - electric piano
Lloyd Davis - electric guitar
Paul Martinez - bass
Bernard ‘Pretty’ Purdie - drums
Kwasi Jayourba - congas & bongos