Concord has just released "Brotherly Love," the last recording of the great soul jazz organist Jack McDuff who died in January this year.
McDuff became quite popular in the late '50s with his brand of driving Hammond B-3 organ jazz. He made over 60 recordings in 40 years, contributed to countless other sessions, and toured relentlessly up to last year. His recordings for Prestige in the 1960s reinvested jazz with the honesty of gospel (whence the organ style was borrowed) and the directness of blues.
While Jimmy Smith in the late '50s originated the organ trio format of drums, guitar and the "vitamin B-3," McDuff was one of the funkier and more sophisticated adherents, never afraid to add a bass or sax player to the mix. McDuff's style drew as much from soul and R&B as from be-bop, his technique never wavering from the path of smoothness and clarity. As a bandleader, McDuff was renowned for his high standards, but also for his gracious treatment of sidemen, giving equal soloing time to everyone in the band. Indeed, McDuff "found" many of the great soul jazz players, Grant Green and George Benson, just to mention two.