VARIOUS ARTISTS
Have You Had Your Vitamin B-3 Today? (Label M)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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In the early sixties, a move was underway in jazz to revive its role as dance music, and at the vanguard of that move were the organ jazz combos. Usually incorporating R&B elements, and almost invariably featuring a hot sax alongside a boiling Hammond organ, the organ combos defined the soul jazz sound that's since been appropriated as the roots of contemporary acid jazz.

While it took its knocks from the hard bop and progressive cognoscenti in its heyday, many of the principle artists in the soul jazz scene are now recognized among the giants of jazz, and many of those giants are represented on this Label M compilation. Organists like Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, Shirley Scott and Charles Earland, saxophonists like Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, Houston Person, Yusef Lateef and Ike Quebec and guitarists like Grant Green and Kenny Burrell are represented in any well rounded jazz collection, and they're all present here.

This is music with a groove, music to dance to, music to tap a to with, music to enjoy over and over. The selections are first rate, and whether organ jazz is an old favorite or a new discovery, you gotta love this one.

Track List:

Gene Ammons/You Talk That Talk * Stanley Turrentine & Shirley Scott/Trouble * Charles Earland/The Mighty Burner * Willis Jackson/This'll Get To You * Lou Donaldson/Funky Mama * Ike Quebec/Easy - Don't Hurt * Jimmy Smith/ Jumpin' The Blues * Willis Jackson/Troubled Times * Grant Green/Blues In Maude's Flat

© 2001 - Shaun Dale