Soul Stream Posted October 3, 2005 Report Posted October 3, 2005 O.K. So this is the album most consider Big John's finest. I'm not going to argue, since I couldn't argue there's a BETTER one (a few equals I'd say however). But no doubt Big John and company are at their peak here. John Patton himself told me he was very nervous at this session due to the presence of Bobby Hutcherson. You'd never know from John's playing however. One thing I love so much about Patton's work, no matter what the album, is that it's so focused. Clean lines, it's like he's got it all mapped out in his head before hand. And this band@! Bobby does add that extra ingredient that maybe sends this session from being merely a great one to a legendary one. I'm going to go into a more blow by blow rundown of the LP later today or tommorrow, but wanted to get the word out on what AOTW I had picked since I'm running a day late and a dollar short. Quote
connoisseur series500 Posted October 3, 2005 Report Posted October 3, 2005 It's Patton's second best. "Got a good thing goin'" is his best. Both are great, of course. Quote
clifford_thornton Posted October 3, 2005 Report Posted October 3, 2005 I LOVE this record... especially the tune "Latona." Mighty modal groover straight outta the Joe Henderson-style bag. Speaking of which, this is probably Patton's most Larry Young-esque album; his solos speak mightily of Young's influence. Plus, the instrumentation is fascinating, and the whole shit just cooks... Lucky enough to find a mint minus New York mono of this for $20 a few years ago. Beautiful! Couldn't be more pumped on an organ record (pun fully intended)... thanks for nominating this one! Quote
Soul Stream Posted October 3, 2005 Author Report Posted October 3, 2005 And the cover ain't bad either. Quote
Peter Johnson Posted October 3, 2005 Report Posted October 3, 2005 Couw? Do yo' thang, pretty please? And the cover ain't bad either. ← Quote
couw Posted October 3, 2005 Report Posted October 3, 2005 there exists already a classic AfricaJeff animation! Quote
sidewinder Posted October 3, 2005 Report Posted October 3, 2005 A timely nomination. I have a NY USA mono LP of this one on order ( ). Of course the interaction of Bobby H and Big John are a very significant to the success of this session. Will give the CD a spin tonight. Love the cool cover art too ! Quote
Guy Berger Posted October 3, 2005 Report Posted October 3, 2005 I really like this album. Interestingly it has identical instrumentation to "Street of Dreams" (a previous AOTW). I really like "The Turnaround" and (if I'm thinking of the same tune as Clifford T) "Latona". Guy Quote
Soul Stream Posted October 3, 2005 Author Report Posted October 3, 2005 Here's a little more I'd like to say about "Let 'Em Roll." Firstly, I can't express how much I love this album and how many, many, many hours of enjoyment I've gotten from it over the years. If there is such a thing as a "perfect" LP, this might be it for me. To begin with, the six songs included construct such a perfect set of listening that from start to finish this is a wonderfully sequenced LP... The title cut Let 'Em Roll leads it off. It's a great example of John's compositional style. Deceptively simple, but very open ended. This is an 8 bar blues in G, but has modal aspects to it when you get to the IV chord, much like "All Blues." You can really hear it exagerrated on the head with the D,G,C,F note walkup. Plus, this has got some great rhythmic angles to it.... although Candy Finch just shuffles the shit out of the whole thing. The turnback from bars 5 on, especially pronounced on the head, is just something only Big John would come up with. It's trademark stuff. You listen to it and it sounds relatively simple. But try and PLAY what those guys are doing, and you realize you're in Patton's world now and you are screwed. Rhythmic and harmonic subtlety are the name of the game here and lesser men would make a complete mess of this thing. Another thing I love is that John keeps the bass in 2 against 4 the whole time. A lot of organists would have started walking the bass at some point. This was something John liked to to quite a bit because it frees the drummer up a bit more. That's why drummers loved playing with John too, he gave them plenty of room. Grant and John keep their solos bluesy and, surprisingly, so does Bobby Hutcherson. At 3:32 Big John hits a lick that foreshadows the complete Got A Good Thing Goin' LP. Also, when Bobby solos...listen to what the fuck John and Grant start doing behind him! Those interlocking figures keep that rhythm moving and are locking in so tight with Candy Finch...it's unheralded stuff, but those are the things that seperate good from great rhythm sections.... Quote
Soul Stream Posted October 3, 2005 Author Report Posted October 3, 2005 (edited) The second track on Let 'Em Roll is Latona. It's a modal Latin groover using F#dorian. This is one of the most incredible examples of John's ability to juggle a difficult polyrhythmic bassline. The bassline itself seems like a simple 3 note figure, but when used against the rhythm...it is a bitch. Also, love how the melody is constructed around the scale but it doesn't sound especially driven that way, very subtle and beautiful. Especially the two note phrases before they punch the chords. Super hip. John's solo is so, so, so...JOHN. He's really finding his voice on this album. We'll hear a LOT more of Patton soloing in this sort of modal groover much more once he gets to That Certain Feeling. But if I had to choose one cut that would represent the dividing line for John, both compositionally and conceptually, this would be it. After Latona, there's no turning back for him. Also, his full organ tag on the end is beautiful. Edited October 3, 2005 by Soul Stream Quote
Guest akanalog Posted October 3, 2005 Report Posted October 3, 2005 never cared for the drumming on this one and i dont like the theme from sandpiper. otherwise i like the trio up front of patton green and hutcherson and one step ahead does sound pretty progressive to me. Quote
Soul Stream Posted October 4, 2005 Author Report Posted October 4, 2005 never cared for the drumming on this one and i dont like the theme from sandpiper. otherwise i like the trio up front of patton green and hutcherson and one step ahead does sound pretty progressive to me. ← At the time, the working trio was Patton, Green and Otis Finch. They gigged heavily and regularly for a good period of time. I'd have to disagree with the drumming on this one. Finch is stirring the pot for sure. He doesn't have the chemistry with Green and Patton like Ben Dixon did, he who did! Quote
clifford_thornton Posted October 4, 2005 Report Posted October 4, 2005 Candy is delicious on this! And no, I don't mean Hans Dulfer's foxy daughter... Quote
ep1str0phy Posted October 4, 2005 Report Posted October 4, 2005 I've got to give it up for Green on this one. This is one of those pre-rare groove sides where GG still sounds like a katana blade... Grant had a fine track record with organists, and he seems particularly inspired here (not afraid to double-time, comp a little heavy). The session as a whole is a little formulaic, but it transcends the trappings of soul grease with some fine blowing. I actually bought this set because it had the same instrumentation as "Street of Dreams" (one of my all time favorites). This is an altogether different monster, however; "SOD" is all romance and noir, whereas "Let 'Em Roll" is straight-up, black bottom funk. Different sides of the hotel, I guess. Quote
Soul Stream Posted October 4, 2005 Author Report Posted October 4, 2005 ...just a few thoughts about The Shadow Of Your Smile. This is a beautiful rendition of a song that was SO popular in the 60's that every jazz musician working the chitlin' circuit certainly had to have it under their fingers. Lots of recorded versions and Patton's is certainly one of the best. Lou Donaldson did this with Dr. Lonnie Smith on organ as well on Mr. Shing-A-Ling, great version as well. This is, to me at least, one of John Patton's greatest recorded solos. The way he snakes through the changes is beautiful. Not a wasted or sour note. I especially love his triplet figure as he starts the solo. Also, this is a great time to note what a beautiful sound RVG gets from the organ on this date. He really brings out the best in Patton's sound, and I think it's one of Rudy's best jobs in that regard. On Shadow Of Your Smile, you can really feel Patton's touch on the B3. Quote
JohnS Posted October 5, 2005 Report Posted October 5, 2005 Love this one, even have the tee shirt. Quote
Soul Stream Posted October 6, 2005 Author Report Posted October 6, 2005 Love this one, even have the tee shirt. ← ...and there's a t-shirt too?! damn... Quote
Brad Posted October 7, 2005 Report Posted October 7, 2005 This, of course, is a wonderful disc. As a result of this thread, I listened it today. What a groove on Shadow of Your Smile. John Patton and this song seem to fit perfectly together. Also, what can you say of Hutcherson on this date. As a sideman on this and many other discs, he just seems to makes good sessions very good ones. Quote
sidewinder Posted October 7, 2005 Report Posted October 7, 2005 Just giving the CD of this one another spin. Amazing how they hit the groove within 1 milli-second of the first track starting then it stays right in there for the duration. Very consistent. Grant Green's playing on this album a real highlight - very supportive of Big John, who of course plays his ass off. Love that big bass pedal sound he gets here. Desert island stuff, this one Quote
Soul Stream Posted October 7, 2005 Author Report Posted October 7, 2005 Love that big bass pedal sound he gets here. ← I've got a JRVG of this and you can really hear Big John's touch on the pedals on this. I think the U.S. CD is very, very, very light on the bass on this one compared to the original album and/or JRVG. John had a real nice sense of the pedal board. Great ear. Quote
CJ Shearn Posted October 7, 2005 Report Posted October 7, 2005 gotta pull this out again, bought it backn a few weeks ago. I love that montuno John and Grant get on "Latona". Quote
Soulstation1 Posted October 7, 2005 Report Posted October 7, 2005 (edited) i dig the way BJP plays behind green and hutch on the shadow of your smile i really dig soul stream's comments on each song i'd like to see his comments on One Step Ahead, lately i like to play that song first this one could use the rvg treatment, it is a classic in my books Edited October 7, 2005 by Soulstation1 Quote
Soul Stream Posted October 7, 2005 Author Report Posted October 7, 2005 One Step Ahead is another way that Patton, compositionally, takes something very, very simple and (some may say) overused by organists and twists it in such a way as to make it completely fresh. In this case, Patton takes a plain ol' minor blues in C and by doing 2 simple things, give it an "otherworldly" quality. Firstly, his chord inversions on the head vamp give it a more open feel than what say, Jimmy Smith, would use. Secondly, he does it in 5/4 time. Other than those two twists, this is just a regular minor blues. Also, check out Patton's comp behind Green at @1:58, it's CLASSIC Patton comping from this time period. Only Larry Young and Patton frequently comped like this. And last, but not least...the solos all around have just a wonderful, wonderful feel to them. Patton, again, does a full organ ending which is something he didn't do a lot in general, but did several times on this record which is interesting to me. Quote
couw Posted October 8, 2005 Report Posted October 8, 2005 Listening to this now and it's indeed a damn good one! Grant Green has that gritty sound here, love that. Thanks for the write ups, I'll be enjoying it some more. Quote
_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.