Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Brother Jack McDuff: Bringin' It Home

164

Brother Jack McDuff: Bringin' It Home

By

View read count
Brother Jack McDuff: Bringin' It Home
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 been a restrained jazz organist, and his solos here are less frequent and more concise than ever. In fact, he doesn't solo at all on one track ("Summertime"). Still, Brother Jack retains an impeccable feel for the blues, a soulful sense of the groove, and a generous spirit. On Bringin' It Home he mostly comps and grooves while his guests share in the spotlight, and that's fine given his guests' capabilities.

The track "Cold Duck Time" features an easy groove and impressive solos from Benson and Holloway. The latter's soulful presence helps to energize five of these nine tracks, while Benson adds his guitar to three. McDuff's "The Scratch" is a fervid mid-tempo number on which the ensemble swings as one and Benson steps forward for a finger-flying solo. This tune's funky coolness brings to mind those fine albums McDuff and Benson recorded together in the mid '60s.

Mark Whitfield's Wes Montgomery-like solo on "Girl Talk" is the best guitar interlude on the CD. "After Hours" features Brother Jack on the piano, and his playing is spare but intensely bluesy. I love his interpretation of this well-known tune. "This Masquerade" and "Summertime" strike me as the weakest tracks, maybe because I've heard these tunes on about a thousand jazz records, but also because these versions seem overlong.

Three tracks also feature McDuff's current ensemble, the Heatin' System, and this group acquits itself just as well as the all-stars. "Pettin' The Cat" slinks along with a feline coolness and a triple sax section. Andrew Beals' beautiful solo on Johnny Mandel's "A Time for Love" provides a welcome change of mood.

Jazz centered around the Hammond B-3 is like your basic meal of meat and potatoes: it's not haute cuisine, but it satisfies many appetities. Brother Jack McDuff 's latest will definitely fill you up.

Track Listing

Cold Duck Time; The Scratch; Girl Talk; After Hours; This Masquerade; A Time for Love; Moohah! Joe Dukes; Summertime; Pettin’ the Cat.

Personnel

Jack McDuff
organ, Hammond B3

Album information

Title: Bringin' It Home | Year Released: 1999 | Record Label: Concord Music Group

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.