That’s well illustrated by these performances. Great taste and the sound of surprise were his thing. Of course, he’s famous as a hard swinger, but musicians hold his arranging skill in awe. As Scott recalls: “Jack was a superb arranger, a literate musician who read and wrote manuscript. Given that the B-3, unlike any other keyboard instrument, can create the dynamics of a big band in a small group setting – and that McDuff is acknowledged as a very accomplished arranger – when this quartet plays standards such as Satin Doll, Lover Man and Take The A Train Jack’s skill and knowledge of the art form shine through along with his obvious love for the masters like Basie, Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. This reflects how Jack’s ears were open to the newer, freer sounds that had developed in jazz and reflected in some of his recordings as ‘The Heatin’ System’ – several tracks have modal and fusion touches that sound remarkably current. Stylistically, Jack and his group cover a lot of ground, especially for an organ quartet – from beautifully old school funky blues to some frenetic and distinctly edgy fast-paced, solo and ensemble playing. Scott’s observations are borne out in his recordings. At other times his style, especially on blues, was joyful with a rollicking beat.” He could be moody, and able to convey a deep sadness in his playing, and I think that’s one of the traits that made him such a moving player. He was usually a taciturn man but he also had a sharp sense of humor at times. A wise warning because Jack was playing his ass off on these dates! I’d got to know him pretty well during several of his previous visits to Seattle. It featured a warning sign on the back, in red and black, that said ‘DANGER’ and sported scary lightning bolts. “On this week-long visit to Seattle in July of 1982, Jack brought his own Hammond B-3, a well-used early seventies model. I had to spread myself pretty thin, but it worked out. This meant stage sound, which was very limited then, some nice stage lighting, and working the door on some evenings. So my role became the official dog’s body, doing anything they needed. #ONE DOG STORY BANDCAMP PROFESSIONAL#As a working jazz organ player and a professional theatrical lighting designer, I needed an extra source of income, as we all did. “Parnell’s was essentially Seattle’s jazz club central. The clubs resident sound engineer, Scott Hawthorn, who made these original private recordings, also just happened to be a keen jazz organist himself, and naturally relished seeing one of the greatest exponents of jazz organ ever up close and personal. It was into the inviting environment of Parnell’s that Jack McDuff, one of the soul jazz organ combo, brought his quartet for a week-long engagement in June 1982. Soul Bank’s Greg Boraman explains the 23 year old back story to how this amazing release of previously unreleased music by a bona fide jazz legend came about. Stylistically, Jack and his group cover a lot of ground, especially for an organ quartet – from beautifully old school funky, gritty blues with tracks like Walkin’ The Dog & Blues 1 & 8, jazz standards like April In Paris, and A Night In Tunisia through to some frenetic and distinctly edgy fast paced jazz fusion type numbers - Make It Good and Untitled D Minor - and this reflects how Jack's ears were open to the newer, freer sounds that had developed in jazz and reflected in some of his recordings as ‘The Heatin’ System’ – as several tracks have modal and fusion touches that sound remarkably current. ‘Live At Parnells’ is made up of 15 tracks selected from a week-long engagement in June 1982. McDuff can also take the credit for launching the career of a particularly gifted young jazz guitarist when he recruited George Benson to his own quartet, which resulted in Benson's first solo deal in the mid 1960’s. Self-taught on the organ, he recorded with Willis Jackson & Roland Kirk in the late ’50s and early ’60s, cutting high calibre souljazz dates for Prestige Records, and later Argo / Cadet. Jazz organist ‘Brother’ Jack McDuff (born Eugene McDuffy in 1926 Septem– January 23, 2001) was second only to the infamous Jimmy Smith in terms of fame and the impact he made with the King of keyboard instruments - the Hammond B-3 Organ.
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