8860 - THE GODFATHERS OF GROOVE (2007)

THE GODFATHERS OF GROOVE
''THE GODFATHERS OF GROOVE''
JANUARY 9 2007
62:04

1 The Okie Dokie (Reuben Wilson) 05:14
2 Flipity Flop (Reuben Wilson) 06:46
3 Sweet Home Chicago (Robert Johnson) 07:20
4 My Father's Song (Grant Green Jr.) 08:19
5 Long Live New Orleans (Grant Green Jr., Bernard ''Pretty'' Purdie) 06:47
6 Everday I Have The Blues (Peter Chatman) 04:51
7 Summer Sun (Grant Green Jr.) 07:58
8 People Get Ready (Curtis Mayfield) 06:09
9 Just My Imagination (Barrett Strong, Norman Whitifield) 08:37

REVIEW / AMG
This all-star date brings together three significant soul-jazz figures: organist Rueben Wilson, veteran session drummer Bernard Purdie, and guitarist Grant Green Jr. (the son of another famous jazz guitarist, Grant Green). Mixing the sound of classic soul-jazz --thanks in large part to Wilson's swirling Hammond B-3 sound--with a hard funk drive and a contemporary edge, GODFATHERS OF GROOVE links the past to the present across nine excellent tracks that will thrill old and new groove fans alike.

ABOUT
The godfathers of groove are an All-Star group comprised of Reuben Wilson on the Hammond B3, Bernard "Pretty" Purdie on drums, and Grant Green Jr. on guitar.

In the late 60s, organist Reuben Wilson began ascending to his current status as a "godfather" of acid-jazz with "On Broadway", the first in a string of albums for Blue Note Records. With these recordings Wilson revealed a command of funk that helped redefine the soul jazz movement created by the likes of Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff and Richard "Groove" Holmes.

Bernard Purdie was born June 11, 1939 in Elkton, Maryland as the eleventh of fifteen children. At 14 years of age he purchased his first real drum set and became the most important provider for the family - earning his pay with country and carnival bands. Purdie moved to New York in 1960 and played with (among others), Lonnie Youngblood before landing his first hit with King Curtis. This led to his engagement with Aretha Franklin in 1970 - the beginning of an unparalleled career. Since then, Purdie has been a regular guest in the studios of the stars of Jazz, Soul, and Rock, working together with Paul Butterfield, Larry Coryell, Miles Davis, Hall & Oates, Al Kooper, Herbie Mann, Todd Rundgren and Cat Stevens, Steely Dan's "Aja", Isaac Hayes, Donny Hathaway, B.B. King, "Sweet" Lou Donaldson, Joe Cocker and Hank Crawford to name a just a few. No other drummer in the last three decades has seen the interior of a recording studio as often as Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. Purdie has laid down the beat on over 3000 albums to date.

As the son of legendary jazz guitarist Grant Green (1931-1979), Grant Green Jr. was exposed to exceptional musicianship and superb guitar playing right from the start. Growing up in the Palmer Woods section of Detroit, Grant enjoyed a constant parade of jazz greats streaming through his living room and at the tender age of five, with his hands barely big enough to grasp the guitar, Grant Jr. played his first chords. Grant eventually settled in New York City where he fine-tuned his craft in the many blues and jazz clubs throughout Manhattan. His ability to blend funky grooves with the melodic soul-jazz and blues made him a popular session player and musician's musician.

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8859 - REUBEN WILSON - ORGAN BLUES (2002)

REUBEN WILSON
''ORGAN BLUES''
FEBRUARY 5 2002
64:56

1 Blues For McDuff (Reuben Wilson) 07:44
2 Please Send Someone To Love (Percy Mayfield) 06:45
3 Old Time Shuffle Blues (?) 08:26
4 Back At The Chicken Shack (Jimmy Smith) 08:04
5 Honey Dripper (Joe Liggins) 08:09
6 After Hours (Mark Gordon, Erskine Hawkins, Avery Parrish) 08:57
7 Willow Weep For Me (Ann Ronell) 07:51
8 Nobody Knows You (When You're Down & Out) (James Cox) 08:56

Melvin Butler/Sax (Tenor)
Grant Green, Jr./Guest Artist, Guitar
Bernard "Pretty" Purdie/Drums, Guest Artist
Reuben Wilson/Arranger, Organ (Hammond)

REVIEW / AMG
by David R. Adler
Reuben Wilson is joined by guitarist Grant Green, Jr., tenor saxophonist Melvin Butler, and drummer Bernard Purdie for this no-frills set of soul-jazz and blues classics. (Wilson, Purdie, and Green, Jr. worked together on Masters of Groove Meet Dr. No, also on the Jazzateria label.) The four begin with a minor-key tribute to Jack McDuff ("Blues for McDuff"). A bit later they nod to another great jazz organist, Jimmy Smith, with a strutting "Back at the Chicken Shack." Other highlights include "Willow Weep for Me," "After Hours," and "Honey Dripper." Music like this is all about feel, and these musicians have plenty of it. But the preponderance of shuffle blues, it must be said, gets a tad monotonous. Even the closing track, "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," a 16-bar tune with a fair amount of harmonic movement, somehow winds up as a straight 12-bar blues during the solos, making it sound too much like everything else.

BIOGRAPHY / AMG
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Reuben Wilson was one of many soul-jazz organists to emerge in the late '60s, but he was one of only a handful of new organists from that era to be signed to Blue Note. By that point in the label's history, most of their artists were concentrating on accessible soul-jazz, and while he occasionally strayed outside of the conventions of the genre, Wilson more or less followed their rule. Between 1968 and 1971, he recorded five sessions for the label. None of his records received much acknowledgment at the time, but they were later rediscovered by a new generation of soul-jazz fans, becoming collector's items within acid jazz and soul-jazz revivalist circles.

Wilson began performing professionally in 1962. A native of Mounds, OK, he moved to Pasadena, CA, as a child, where he attended school with such future jazz musicians as Bobby Hutcherson and Herb Lewis. As a teenager, Wilson began to teach himself to play piano, but his attention was diverted by boxing. When he was 17, he moved to Los Angeles and married a nightclub singer, through whom he met a number of professional musicians. Associating with musicians conviced Wilson to return to music. Instead of pursuing the piano, he decided to take up the organ, and it wasn't long before he became a regular at the Caribbean club, where he played with drummer Eddie Williams, guitarist George Freeman, and, eventually, Clifford Scott. He played the L.A. circuit for several years before deciding to try his luck in Las Vegas. That venture proved unsuccessful, so he moved back to L.A., where he struck up a friendship with Richard "Groove" Holmes, an organist who would greatly influence his own style.

In December 1966, Wilson relocated to New York, where he formed the soul-jazz trio the Wildare Express with drummer Tommy Derrick. The Wildare Express lasted about six months, playing venues throughout the East Coast and Detroit, and then Wilson decided to concentrate on more complex variations of hard bop and soul-jazz. Eventually, such respected musicians as Grant Green, Roy Haynes, and Sam Rivers began playing with Wilson. Around the same time, Blue Note offered the organist a contract based on a demo he had sent the label.

On Broadway, Wilson's first album for Blue Note, was a quartet session featuring his old bandmate Derrick and was recorded in October of 1968. It was followed in March of 1969 by Love Bug, which featured contributions from trumpeter Lee Morgan and guitarist Grant Green. His third album, Blue Mode, was cut in December 1969 and offered some of his hottest playing. With his fourth album, 1970's A Groovy Situation, Wilson moved in a commercial direction, much like many of his Blue Note peers. In July of 1971, he recorded Set Us Free, his final album for the label.

Wilson's contract with Blue Note expired after Set Us Free and he moved to Groove Merchant, where he released three albums -- Cisco Kid, Bad Stuff, and The Sweet Life -- during the mid-'70s. Throughout the decade, he also played on sessions by funk, soul, and jazz artists, including a record by the Fatback Band. During the late '70s, he recorded sporadically, eventually retiring from music in the early '80s.

By the late '80s, Wilson's music had been rediscovered by a new generation, listeners who didn't dismiss his records as commercial fluff. Like several of his peers, his late-'60s and '70s records, through sampling, became cornerstones in the newly emerging acid jazz and jazz-rap genres. Soon, his out of print records became collector's items, and his sampled licks were appearing on dancefloors throughout England and parts of New York. Eventually, samples of his records were included on hit albums by A Tribe Called Quest, Us3, Brand New Heavies, and Nas. In light of all this new attention, Wilson decided to return to performing, and he toured with Guru's Jazzamatazz revue in 1995. He also began writing new material and performing in new groups, including combos he led himself. In 1996, he signed to Hip Bop and released two albums, Live at SOB's and Organ Donor. The following year, he recorded Organic Grooves with Dr. Lonnie Smith and Doug Carn.

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