Pittsburgh native Stanley Turrentine is one of the most influential tenor saxophonists in jazz yet remains understudied. In the early 1960s Turrentine was a pioneering figure in the development of soul-jazz, a hybridization of rhythm and blues and bebop that became a mainstay of night club performance and record sales in urban working-class African American communities into the 1970s. He recorded and gigged prolifically, often in tandem with the Hammond organ in a format that came to be known as the “organ combo,” as well as in other small group configurations. Of particular importance is Turrentine’s innovative use of the blues scale as a basis of both improvisation and composition in a manner influential not only to future jazz saxophonists but also to further developments in funk and jam band idioms. Main materials consulted in the presentation will include seminal organ combo and small group recordings on the Blue Note label including a 1961 live date at legendary Harlem jazz venue Minton’s Playhouse. Additional consideration of Turrentine’s later output on the CTI label will also be offered.
About the presenterDouglas Sherry
Independent Scholar History of Jazz, Blues and Rock