Willis Jackson - Nuther'n Like Thuther'n '2002

Tracks list

Here's the bad news: A lot of worthwhile soul-jazz albums that were recorded for
small, obscure labels in the '60s are likely to remain out of print. If the rare
organ/tenor date that you're longing to hear came out on a tiny label that
someone was operating out of his/her two-bedroom rowhouse in South Philadelphia,
you had best do a lot of searching at your favorite vinyl gathering. Now, here's
the good news: A lot of great soul-jazz was recorded for Prestige in the '60s,
and Fantasy (which owns the Prestige catalog) is quite good about reissuing
Prestige titles. In 2002, Fantasy reissued two more Willis "Gator" Jackson
titles (1963's More Gravy and 1964's Boss Shoutin') back to back on the
67-minute CD Nuther'n Like Thuther'n. Neither album is unique or revolutionary,
but both are excellent, highly rewarding examples of the type of groove-oriented
soul-jazz/hard bop that Jackson was recording for Prestige in the early '60s.
Most of the musicians who join Jackson on More Gravy also join him on Boss
Shoutin', including organist Carl Wilson, guitarist Pat Martino, drummer Joe
Hadrick, and the underexposed trumpeter Frank Robinson. However, there are two
acoustic bassists: Sam Jones on More Gravy and George Tucker on Boss Shoutin'.
Both albums point to the fact that, although the Gator of 1963-1964 was calmer
than the Gator of the late '40s and early '50s, he still had a big tone and
brought a lot of passion to his tenor. This is true on 12-bar jazz blues grooves
like "Pool Shark" and "Shoutin'"; it is true on an unlikely Latin boogaloo
interpretation of W.C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues" and emotional ballad statements
such as "Your Wonderful Love" and "Somewhere Along the Way." Soul-jazz
enthusiasts can't go wrong with this fine CD.

Tracks:

01. Pool Shark (Jackson) - 3:59
02. Somewhere Along the Way (Gallop-Adams) - 4:19
03. Stuffin' (Jackson) - 7:14
04. Nuther'n Like Thuther'n (Jackson-Hadrick) - 7:37
05. More Gravy (Jackson) - 4:10
06. Fiddlin' (Jackson-Robinson) - 5:14
07. St. Louis Blues (Handy) - 8:24
08. Que Sera, Sweetie (Jackson) - 7:02
09. Shoutin' (Jackson) - 6:46
10. Nice 'n' Easy (Spence-Bergman-Keith) - 6:39
11. Your Wonderful Love (Rogers-Fields) - 5:58 

Personnel:

Willis Jackson - tenor saxophone
Frank Robinson - trumpet
Carl Wilson - organ
Pat Martino - guitar
Sam Jones (#1-6), George Tucker (#7-11) - bass
Joe Hadrick - drums
Recorded at the Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ on October 24, 1963
(#1-6) and January 9, 1964 (#7-11).

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