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WILLIS JACKSON & VON FREEMAN
Lockin' Horns (32 Jazz)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale
This started out as Willis Jackson's spot on the 1978 Laren International Jazz Festival stage. He invited fellow tenorman Von Freeman aboard as a "guest" and Muse Records turned it into the double billed Lockin' Horns. Good for them, and good for 32 for giving us another chance to discover this gem.
On the surface, there couldn't be two more disparate players than Jackson and Freeman. Willis Jackson moved from the R&B circuit to the organ combos of the soul jazz circuit, which in the eyes of some is hardly a move at all. He possessed a huge, honking tenor sound, and was given to making the horn growl, wheeze, roar, and roll over at will. Freeman, on the other hand, is an almost pure bopper with one of the most distinctive, and at times delicate, sounds in the business. For many years, he was rarely heard away from his Chicago home, but in Chicago he was a member of one of the city's best known jazz dynasties, including his brothers George (guitar) and Buzz (drums), and his son, the illustrious Chico.
The disc opens with "Pow!"--a showcase for Jackson and his band, Carl Wilson (organ), Joe "Boogaloo" Jones (guitar), and Yusef Ali (drums). Together they were one of the most talented--and most under-rated--groups in the soul jazz genre, but they were all more than that. They could play in a variety of styles, and the promise of having the hard-bopping Freeman on board seemed to drive the band to another level. They push toward that level through the next two numbers, and when Freeman steps out of the wings for "Summertime," they're ready.
They take a run at "The Shadow Of Your Smile" next, and while it's just the kind of then-contemporary pop that was routine for soul jazz outfits, there's nothing routine about this cut. It's just a warm-up, though, for the tenor battle to come. The disc closes out with 8 minutes and 46 seconds of "Willis And Von," and I'm not even gonna try. You'll just have to hear it for yourself.
Track List:
Pow! * The Man I Love * Troubled Times * Summertime * The Shadow Of Your Smile * Willis And Von
© 2000 - Shaun Dale