Jazz Articles about Jack McDuff

Jazz in a Snow Globe

by Joseph Vella
November 24, 2022

One of the greatest gifts of listening to jazz is to simply get lost inside of a track and have it transport you to a state of bliss. These special pieces of music often discovered over time through countless of hours of listening. Like the diamonds of the music, no matter the era or style, they just shine. I like to call these magical gems “Snow Globe Jazz"—these tracks do everything you need for them to do. They're ...

50th Anniversary Blue Notes for December, Including The Rare Jazz Wave on Tour

by Marc Cohn
December 18, 2019

50th anniversary Blue Notes from December 1969 this week from Jack McDuff (Moon Rappin') and Reuben Wilson (the seriously greasy Blue Mode) and part of a Donald Byrd session (Kofi) only released 25 years after the fact! Then, there's this one: Jazz Wave Ltd. on Tour, Volume 1. It's a double LP (it's in my lap as I write this), never reissued in any form and if it's streaming somewhere, I haven't found it. Recorded live in Germany, it features ...

Listeners' Favorites

by Marc Cohn
August 9, 2019

The number of the day is 5 (as in Show 385), which means it's time for listeners' favorites—the tunes that moved you from Gifts & Messages (Shows 371-380). Some old, some more recent. Enjoy the ride (it's granulated), and thanks for your comments and your ears.Thanks to our most active listeners of the week in: Kiev (Ukraine), Chicago & Baton Rouge (US), and Nerima (Japan)!Playlist Jack McDuff “Down Home Style" from Down Home Style (Blue Note) ...

June 50th Anniversary Blue Notes

by Marc Cohn
June 7, 2019

50th anniversaries of Blue Note recording sessions from June 1969 this week: (1) Stanley Turrentine with McCoy Tyner & Billy Cobham; (2) pianist Jack Wilson's trio; (3) John Patton; (4) Andrew Hill with a string quartet; (5) Brother Jack McDuff's 'Down Home Style'; (6) Donald Byrd's 'Fancy Free.' Sessions (1) & (3) were never released in their entirety as actual LPs, but as melds with other recording dates on LP/CD many years after the recording dates & session (4) was ...

Brother Jack McDuff: Who Knows What Tomorrow's Gonna Bring?

by Germein Linares
July 7, 2005

Though originally released by Blue Note, Brother Jack McDuff's '71 album Who Knows What Tomorrow's Gonna Bring? came after the venerable jazz label's glory days in hard bop and post bop. An album with far more funk and soul than swing and bop, this excellent first-time CD reissue by San Francisco-based Water finds McDuff's organ paired nicely with guitarist Joe Beck, trumpeters Randy Brecker and Olu Dara, trombonists Dick Griffin and John Pierson, vibraphonist Mike Mainieri, pianist Paul Griffin, bassists ...

Brother Jack McDuff: Prelude

by C. Michael Bailey
October 21, 2003

If you, the gentle listener, were to ever tire of Jimmy Smith following an overdose of the master’s Blue Note catalog, I would direct you to anything by Brother Jack McDuff. A native of Champaign, IL, McDuff cut his teeth with Willis Jackson and Jimmy Forrest and helped a young George Benson get started. McDuff supported Gene Ammons, Grant Green, Kenny Burrell, and Hank Crawford with his rock-steady time and spot-on bass-pedaling. Prelude is the re-release of McDuff’s 1964 big ...

Jack McDuff Big Band: Prelude

by David Rickert
October 5, 2003

McDuff was one of the artists able to capitalize on the success of Jimmy Smith, who briefly made organ combos fashionable in the sixties. Prelude is the third in a series of McDuff compilations that comb his prolific Prestige years for the best material. Whereas the first two were split between live and studio recordings, this recent disc covers the tracks recorded with a big band under the leadership of Benny Golson.

This new approach was an ...