Jazz Articles about Jack McDuff

About Jack McDuff

Album Review

One thing leads to another: Willis Jackson came to Prestige to revive his career, and in the process started another. The label was eager to join the organ arena, but their Shirley Scott/Lockjaw albums met little commercial success. Willis brought his band to the studio; Prestige liked what they heard. Two sidemen got contracts: Bill Jennings’ Enough Said is now out of print, but McDuff’s Brother Jack proved to be the start of a series, showing his great chops and ...

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Album Review

Jack McDuff: Brother Jack

by Douglas Payne
July 1, 1999

Organist Jack McDuff (b. 1926, Champaign, Illinois) got his start playing piano in his father's church. But, oddly enough, he began his jazz career as a bassist in several mid-west bands. Eventually he switched to organ, earning the name “Brother Jack" for his gospel-style burning on the Hammond B-3. He acquired notoriety as part of Willis Jackson's group (1957-60) and made his solo debut with 1960's Brother Jack, the first of two full LPs featured on this set and his ...

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Album Review

Brother Jack McDuff: Bringin' It Home

Read "Bringin' It Home" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
March 1, 1999

Another funky, blues–drenched date by Hammond B–3 impresario Brother Jack McDuff and an assortment of intrepid soulmates who excel at bringin’ it home (and cookin’ it with the appropriate seasonings and garnishes). Every recording by McDuff is in a sense predictable, as one knows in advance that there’ll be an abundant supply of down–home music with heavy backbeats, expressive guitars and wailing saxophones — but that doesn’t make it any less exciting or agreeable. McDuff keeps the pot ...

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Album Review

Brother Jack McDuff: Bringin' It Home

Read "Bringin' It Home" reviewed by Ed Kopp

by Ed Kopp
March 1, 1999

Over the course of a nearly 40-year career, Jack McDuff's recorded output has been consistently good if unspectacular, and this latest release is no exception. On Bringin' It Home, the 72-year-old Hammond B-3 organist reunites with some of the ex-sidemen he helped to make famous: George Benson (guitar), Red Holloway (tenor sax), and Mark Whitfield (guitar).Granted, McDuff doesn't play with the same vitality as he did on his Atlantic and Prestige recordings of the '60s. McDuff has always ...

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Album Review

Jack McDuff: The Re-Entry

by Douglas Payne
August 1, 1997

The Re-Entry , originally recorded and released on Muse Records in 1988, was Brother Jack McDuff's first recording after a four-year absence from the studios. This, the first of the two Muse dates McDuff recorded with producer/tenor man Houston Person, also features Ron Bridgewater on tenor, Cecil Bridgewater on trumpet, John Hart on guitar and Grady Tate on drums. It's a fairly typical Muse program of blues and ballads with the expectedly clean production perfected ...