One of Gene Ammons' best
late-period albums, 1970's Black Cat is a bluesy, low-key album and a
comparative anomaly: a primarily acoustic soul-jazz album! Ammons was
experimenting heavily with the amplified, feedback-laced electric saxophone
during this period, but for Black Cat he sticks to his familiar unamplified
tenor, playing raunchy gutbucket lines over Ron Carter's warm, deep-toned bass,
Idris Muhammad's laid-back drums, and Harold Mabern's twinkling piano (yes,
piano, not the soul-jazz cliché Hammond organ). Most of the time, only
guitarist George Freeman is plugged in, but even he plays with clean-toned
restraint. The centerpiece tracks are the funky soul-jazz blues "Piece to
Keep Away Evil Spirits" and the more danceable, groove-oriented "Jug
Eyes," which would become two of Ammons' most popular tracks, but the
surprises are a pair of pop covers, Gary White's "Long Long Time"
(popularized by Melanie and Linda Ronstadt) and the Beatles'
"Something." Most soul-jazz covers of pop songs sound like boring,
uninspired feints towards radio airplay, but Ammons turns both of these melodic
ballads into solo showcases for himself and Mabern that show off both players
at their finest. ~ Stewart Mason, AMG.
Prestige Records, PRST 10006,
1971
Recorded 11th November, 1970 at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey
Track Listing:
A1. The Black Cat! {George
Freeman} (5:34)
A2. Long Long Time {Gary
White} (4:28)
A3. Piece To Keep Away Evil
Spirits {Gene Easton} (7:48)
B1. Jug Eyes {Gene Ammons}
(8:07)
B2. Something {George
Harrison} (3:18)
B3. Hi Ruth! {Gene Ammons}
(5:07)
Personnel:
Gene
Ammons - Tenor Saxophone
Harold Mabern - Piano, Rhodes Piano (#A2,B2)
George Freeman - Guitar
Ron Carter - Bass
Idris Muhammad - Drums
Bill Fisher - Conductor [Strings] (#A2,B2)
Credits:
Producer
- Bob Porter
Recording Engineer - Rudy van Gelder
Arranger - Bill Fisher (#A2,B2)
Design - Don Schlitten
Liner Notes - Harry Abraham, WHAM, N.Y. (January 1971)
One of the great funky albums that Gene Ammons
cut for Prestige at the start of the 70s - quite different than his earlier
work for the label, and a very different showcase for his tenor genius! The
whole lineup here is amazing - a quintet that features heavy drums from Idris
Muhammad, piano and Fender Rhodes from Harold Mabern, bass from Ron Carter, and
some tremendously smoking guitar from the great George Freeman! Freeman goes
nuts on the funky cut "The Black Cat" - and other tracks include
"Jug Eyes", "Hi Ruth", "Something", and
"Piece To Keep Away Evil Spirits". © Dusty
Groove, Inc.
