Stanley Turrentine - Boogaloo

ORIGINATION Blue Note Rare Grooves
LAST LISTENED TO a few days back
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT low
RATING

Turrentine was best known for his '60s soul jazz on Blue Note. This example was composed by his then wife and fellow jazz artist Shirley Scott. Her organ opens the track with the main melody, whilst Turrentine interweaves his tenor sax between her lines. He plays in his usual gutsy style here and over the ensuing solo. This is followed by a guitar solo which passes with little incident. At best it's a typical second-string Blue Note guitar solo. Scott is next up, with a solo that is no more inspired than the previous, before things are rounded off with one more typical Turrentine solo. The best thing about the track is the drumming, provided by the ever-dependable Idris Muhammad, who played for pretty much everyone during his long career.

Overall Boogaloo is not a particularly noteworthy tune. It's probably only of interest because it's a boogaloo and it's on Blue Note and even then it's not their best boogaloo. Lou Donaldson's Alligator Boogaloo is quite a bit more interesting. What is rather odd about this tune is that it seems better than it actually is. It really does not benefit from any close attention.

One for the wallpaper.

Stanley Turrentine - Spooky

ORIGINATION 45
LAST LISTENED TO in the past fortnight
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT ok
RATING

Stanley Turrentine was a sax player on Blue Note records when he recorded this with a big band in 1968. It is a cracking version of the pop hit that manages to transform the tune into something similar to a cop show tune. It's got all the correct ingredients for the genre: big, driving beats, large brass section and a hard-blown lead instrument.

This was, in fact, the first version of this song that i heard and it was many year before i realised that there were even words to it! I first knew it from a Blue Note compilation called 'Lost Grooves' but was lucky enough to spot the original 45 release on a trip to London a few years back. Up to the early 90s it was the only release the track was given.

I've tried finding other Turrentine material from the period, but none of it sounds like this, which explains why it was only ever put out on single. Most of it was, unfortunately, not very good easy listening and has never been played again.