Brother Jack McDuff: The Concert McDuff

Jimmy Smith may be the king of the Hammond B-3, but in the 1960s Brother Jack McDuff could produce records equal to just about anything Smith put out, particularly when recorded in a live setting. The eleven tracks featured here are culled from a variety of concert recordings from Newark to Stockholm and all cook like mad; “Love Walked In” is taken at a much faster tempo than Gershwin probably ever intended and even “Four Brothers” becomes a scorcher in the hands of the quartet. Organ combos usually falter when they stray from the standard repertoire, but offbeat selections like “Midnight Sun” and “The Girl From Ipanema” are handled with care and give the band the opportunity to indulge in slower grooves.

McDuff always had a knack for discovering young guitar talent, and most of these tracks feature George Benson, whose nimble, crisply articulated playing is McDuff’s trump card (one selection features Pat Martino, McDuff’s next find). Both Red Holloway and Joe Dukes serve valuable roles in fanning the flames. All in all, an organ record that stands head and shoulders above most.