Stanley Turrentine, one of the most distinctive saxophone sounds in the history of jazz. He did a lot of recording with Jimmy Smith in the sixties and he is one of the best tenor saxophonist in the history of jazz. In other words, the cat could play!!!
Stanley was one of the greatest and most soulful tenor players of all time and he could burn up some bebop any time - a true master and legend. He is very much missed.
Stanley put it all together so well. Soul, grit, and chops with flair & style. I had a chance to sit in The Regatta Bar in Cambridge 10-15 years ago or so and see him perform unclose. Stripped down quartet, Amazing. He was a great guys too hung out and we talked music & sax for a while after the show. Will always remember hang in with a hero.
When I lived in Pittsburgh, I'd go for my walks through Allegheny Cemetery. I'd always stop and sit by his grave and play one of his songs on my phone. :-)
We all miss easy-going, barefoot Hiram Bullock on his dilapidated, beaten-up guitar. And that bass line!! it could gut a fish. One of the most inspired/intense LIVE solos of Turrentine. This is serious music. As measured and deliberate as the studio version is, this live version is irrepressible, and even supersedes the former.
Zeit Geist: Agreed. This is serious music. As a blues harmonica player, I was powerfully inspired by Mr. T's approach. He passes the three-second test: hear three seconds of THIS sax playing on the radio and you know who it is. That's my gold standard for harmonica players. My duo, the Blues Doctors out of Oxford, Mississippi, covers the song. (It's here on RU-vid: blues doctors sugar.) But the shining standard is here.
Adam Gussow "The-Three-Second test" I love that.! I'd like to use that in future posts if you don't mind. And I will definitely check out your suggestion. Keep playing, and the best to you.
my favourite tenor player by absolute yards. not too many notes, and all in the right place. magnificent melodic licks like noone else can produce. i love the way he uses the harmonics without overdoing it. if there is one failing it's that you can often hear the same riffs in different tunes he plays but i like the style so much he could play the same solo over and over again and it wouldn't matter to me. go stanley you inspire me.
Saw Stanley T. play Sugar at a concert in the Felt Forum NYC in 1972 with Freddy Hubbard,George Benson,Jack de Johnette etc and it brought the house down. This gig was to launch the CTI label and the line-up was incredible.The Blue Note records I think are ones that capture his sound best.
Of course Stanley is great but, did you hear that sweet walking bass line my boy Tom Barney was laying' down??? ( a very young Tom at that time), you gotta love it!
Mr Turrentine was one of my heroes when I was really young, bought his very first album on Blue Note. Has not lost anything here at all. Love the start of his solo with that amazing honk. Thank you for putting this on!
stanley sounds better live than on his recordings ..his sound is amazingly great and different than all others .. truly distinctive ,, great intonation ,,, love it , bobby g
"The Baddest Turrentine" - playing Sugar, Salt Song, Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man (awesome) + one....a fantastic album. I never, never, never tire listening to it. Then I went out and bought every Turrentine vinyl I could find, and was mostly disappointed. He did a lot of work to pay the bills with his heart elsewhere, I think. But at his baddest, he is badder than a lot of bad cats.
Nice to see this video. I have this album (never liked that cover!) - favourite track is 'Walk On By'. Stan looks great on this video. Sound is good too - even on my one inchers.
@sigmundgroid Thanks for the clarification...nice bass nonetheless... I've never seen Ron Carter live although I have enjoyed his playing for many years. I was privilaged to see Turrentine in 1974 in San Francisco, which really got me going on him...Thanks for the post...
Back in 77 I was playing with Ritchie Groovin Holmes in Hartford Ct and in walks Turrentine Earlier in the week we had Houston Pearson Drop in to play What a Tremendous opportunity and for an up and coming young Drummer I was in heaven. He was a Tremendous person Great sense of humor and he sat at our table and I listen and learned. Today you don't see that kind of comradely it's a different world now. Sadly to say.
Pittsburghs own!! I had the HONOUR and priv to meet and hang out with this guy. BRILLIANT musician but an even MORe BRILLIANT person. Kind and warm. Miss this guy.
yeah.... he played that note and paused and basked in the Moment Like a Walk off Homer or a Game Winning Jumper... or a Singer Delivering a Great Lyric - a Lawyer making a Case Winning Argument.... I rest my case Your Honor! BAM!
Its after the the minor triad upwards, a start of his solo probably repeated hundreds of times he played this piece. Then the real work begins of improvising something new on the changes.
Got damn that bass is bad. That long electric-pickup drawl (like Carter on the original Sugar version) and such taste. Hiram has his work cut out for him here, 'cause it was George Benson on the album!
