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Album Review

The Essence All-Stars: Bongo Bop

by Douglas Payne
September 1, 1997

A good organ summit that could have been great, Bongo Bop more or less unites B-3 legends Lonnie Smith and Reuben Wilson with wunderkind Joey DeFrancesco and a Hammond player unknown to me by the name of Doug Carn (one wonders who forgot to call John Patton). The disc is something of a follow-up to last year’s Organic Grooves on Hip Bop. Rather than focus on groove tunes, though, the guys try their hand at bop and blues here.

Mostly, ...

Album Review

The Essence All Stars: Jackie's Blues Bag

by Jim Santella
May 1, 1997

Known for his unique tone and hard bop character, Jackie McLean, like Charlie Parker before him, incorporated the blues into his music. Using different ensemble lineups for each tune, saxophonists Justin Robinson, Branford Marsalis, Donald Harrison, Craig Handy, Joe Lovano, Vincent Herring, Javon Jackson and Abraham Burton team with a rhythm section of pianist LaMont Johnson, bassist Rodney Whitaker and drummer Idris Muhammad, to offer up this tribute to the McLean the master.

The session opens with LaMont Johnson's Gospel ...