Jimmy Smith - Livin' Up, Verve 1968

Jimmy Smith proved that he is not just organ Jazz musician, but was able to bring R & B soulful groove to his music. If he were simply plaing mainstream hard bop, then the sound of organ itself would not be recognized and appreciated by many other artists to follow his footsteps, especially for fusion of R & B, blues, and gospel influences. With driving soloing on his right, ubiquitous chodal accompaniment on his left hand, and flowing rhythmic bass line on his feet, Smith could fill every available keys from low to high note in various styles of music.

This is Jimmy Smith's 1968 release "Livin' Up" from Verve Records. During this time at Verve, he had collaborated with arranger and conductor Oliver Nelson leading big band to provide tightly arranged horn sections and soft string orchestration. The album opens with great cover of Mission Impossible Theme, as well as funk original "Big Boss Man", and "Burning Spears", composed by Richard Evans for Soulful Strings. Highly recommended.

Tracklist:
Side 1
A1. Mission Impossible (3:32)
A2. Refractions (4:48)
A3. The Gentle Rain (2:35)
A4. Burning Spear (3:53)
A5. Go Away Little Girl (2:43)

Side 2
B1. Livin' It Up (5:00)
B2. This Nearly Was Mine (3:15)
B3. Big Boss Man (6:14)
B4. Valley Of The Dolls (4:48)

Cannonball Adderley "Pyramid", Fantasy Records 1974

Cannonball Adderley is definitely one of the pivotal figures in history of Jazz, from playing with Miles Davis in late 50s with such releases as "Milestones" and "Kind Of Blue" to leading his own group associating with talents like Joe Zawinul, Bobby Timmons, George Duke, Walter Booker, Charles Lloyd, and Yusef Lateef. He is master of soul-Jazz, and went to find successes with producing classic Jazz standards. His music was well-received with large audiences, due to his ability to cross over between Jazz and more funk, electric and R&B oriented styles of music. Especially, after moving to Capital Records and teaming up with Jazz-Funk producer David Axelrod from mid 60s, he had produced crossover Jazz releases that had met with listeners' taste during those years when psychedelic rock flourished (Beatles' "White Album", Jimi Hendrix Experience, and none of other Miles Davis "Bitches Brew".

Co-produced with Cannonball and Axelrod, this electric, groovy Jazz-funk album was released in 1974, a year before his sudden death. It is a year after Herbie Hancock released "Head Hunters". So maybe we can hear the influence and experiment in sounds from this album, personally not quite sure about his true intension on the recordings. It is very spacy feeling into each tracks, from ARP synth by George Duke who was playing on Frank Zappa's band around this time.

The album features electric sounds throughout most tracks, and lesser soloing from the man himself. The first track is groovy electric funk track, a perfect evidence of Axelrod's production style with heavy percussive beats and layers of sounds.

Personally, though all tracks are electric, fusion vibes, I like the last track "BESS , OH WHERE'S MY BESS", a ballad with more straight forward Jazz with just alto sax and piano. I think the song, style, mood suit him better in this way.

CD Reissue with audio samples

Personnel:
Julian Cannonball Adderley - Alto & Soprano Sax
Nat Adderley - Cornet
Hal Galper - Electric piano
Walter Booker - Bass
Roy McCurdy - Drums

plus
Phil Upchurch - Guitar
George Duke - Electric & Acoustic Clavinet, ARP Synthesizer
Jimmy Jones - Piano (on "BESS" only)

Tracklist:
Side A:
1. Phases (Hal Galper) (6:00)
2. My Lady Blue (Hal Galper) (4:45)
3. Books End (David Axelrod) (5:35)

Side B:
1. Pyramid (Julian Adderley) (3:40)
2. Suite Cannon (Julian Adderley)
1. The King & I (3:13)
2. Time In (4:41)
3. For Melvin Lastie (2:26)
3. BESS , OH WHERE'S MY BESS (G & I Gershwing) (3:36)

David Axelrod Official Site