Willis Jackson - In My Solitude (1961) [flac]

One of the rarest Willis Jackson albums of the 60s - recorded for the smaller Moodsville subsidiary of Prestige, and done in a dreamy late nite mode that's quite different from some of Jackson's other sets! The group is a quartet with Richard Wyands on piano - offering a starker, darker backing than Willis received on his organ-based albums for Prestige - a sound that allows Jackson to open up in these mellow and introspective solos, blown out of sadness into the darkness - with a tone and sound that seems to know no bottom. The set is recorded with a nice use of echo that seems to enforce this quality - and titles include "It Never Entered My Mind", "Home", "They Didn't Believe Me", "Estrellita", and "In My Solitude". © Dusty Groove, Inc.

Prestige/Moodsville Records, MVLP 17, 1961

Recorded 10^th January, 1961 (#A4) & 11^th April, 1961 (#A1-A3,B1-B4)
At Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Personnel:

Willis Jackson - Tenor Saxophone

Richard Wyands - Piano (#A1-A3,B1-B4)

Jimmy Neeley - Piano (#A4)

Peck Morrison - Bass (#A1-A3,B1-B4)

Wendell Marshall - Bass (#A4)

Mickey Roker - Drums (#A1-A3,B1-B4)

Gus Johnson - Drums (#A4)

Juan Amalbert - Congas (#A4)

Tracks:

A1. Nobody Knows The Trouble I Seen {Traditional} (4:12)

A2. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child {Traditional} (3:41)

A3. [In My] Solitude {Eddie DeLange, Duke Ellington, Irving Mills} (5:04)

A4. Estrellita {Manuel Ponce} (4:11)

B1. It Never Entered My Mind {Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers} (4:03)

B2. They Didn't Believe Me {Jerome Kern, Michael E. Rourke} (3:38)

B3. Home {Harry Clarkson, Geoffrey Clarkson, Peter van Steeden} (5:11)

B4. Nancy [With The Laughing Face] {James van Heusen, Phil Silvers} (5:23)

Credits:

Producer, Photo - Esmond Edwards

Recording Engineer - Rudy van Gelder
Design - Don Schlitten
Liner Notes - Sidney Falco

Willis Jackson - Really Groovin' (1961) [vinyl]

A killer batch of tracks from Willis Jackson - recorded in a slightly different format than some of his other work for Prestige! The album features Gatortail in two different piano-based quartets - one with the obscure Jimmy Neely on the keys, the other with the great Richard Wyands riffing things up. Juan Amalbert of the Latin Jazz Quintet plays conga on a number of tracks - giving them that rolling groove that you'd often hear with Gene Ammons or Lou Donaldson during the time, and Jackson more than does his job of matching those two in adapting to the slight Latin tinge of the format. Titles include "Sweet Peter Charleston", "A Twist of The Blues", "Oatmeal", and "He Said She Said I Said". ~ Dusty Groove America.

Prestige Records, PRLP 7196, 1961

Recorded 10^th January (#A1-B3) and 11^th April (#B4), 1961

At Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Musicians:

Willis Jackson - Tenor Saxophone

Jimmy Neeley - Piano (#A1-B3)

Richard Wyands - Piano (#B4)

Wendell Marshall - Bass (#A1-B3)

Peck Morrison - Bass (#B4)

Gus Johnson - Drums (#A1-B3)

Mickey Roker - Drums (#B4)

Juan Amalbert - Conga (#A1-B3)

Tracks:

A1. Careless Love {W. C. Handy, Spencer Williams} (4:28)

A2. Oatmeal {Johnny Griffin} (4:28)

A3. I Remember Clifford {Benny Golson} (3:53)

A4. A Twist Of Blues {Willis Jackson} (5:47)

B1. Sweet Peter Charleston {Johnny Griffin} (6:56)

B2. Again {Lionel Newman, Dorcas Cochran} (4:11)

B3. He Said, She Said, I Said {Willis Jackson} (3:58)

B4. Girl Of My Dreams {Sunny Clapp} (6:48)

Credits:

Supervision - Esmond Edwards

Recording Engineer - Rudy van Gelder

Liner Notes - Joe Goldberg

Willis Jackson - Bossa Nova Plus (1963) [re-rip]

Bossa Nova Plus (also released as Shuckin') is an album by saxophonist Willis Jackson which was recorded in 1962 and released on the Prestige label. ~ Wikipedia

On this studio album Jackson is joined with Tommy Flanagan on piano and Kenny Burrell on guitar along with a mighty rhythm section including Roy Haynes on drums, Eddie Calhoun on bass and a large contingent of Latin percussionists especially noted Juan Amalbert and Montego Joe driving a consistent and enthralling conga beat. The album provides enough room for most players to express some fine solos. Essentially it is an album that blends multiple styles and with Jackson great tenor sound to the fore the listener is in for an enjoyable ride. Disregarding the scintillating Latin-influenced tunes there are still some amazing Soul Jazz and Hard Bop drenched tracks for the die-hard Jackson fans. Allmusic awarded the album 4 stars stating "His second great album that year".

Prestige Records, PRST 7260, 1963

Recorded 30^th October, 1962 At Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Personnel:

Willis Jackson - Tenor Saxophone

Tommy Flanagan - Piano

Kenny Burrell - Guitar

Eddie Calhoun - Bass

Roy Haynes – Drums

Juan Amalbert - Congas

Montego Joe - Congas

Jose Paulo - Congas, Timbales

Tracks:

A1. Cachita {Rafael Hernández} (3:46)

A2. I Left My Heart In San Francisco {George Cory, Douglass Cross} (3:20)

A3. Amor {Ricardo Lopez Mendez, Gabriel Ruíz} (7:47)

B1. Mama Inez {L. Wolfe Gilbert, Eliseo Grenet} (4:53)

B2. What Kind Of Fool Am I? {Leslie Bricusse, Anthony Newley} (5:08)

B3. Shuckin' {Willis "Gator" Jackson} (5:26)

Credits:

Supervisor - Ozzi Cadena

Recording Engineer - Rudy van Gelder

Liner Notes - Del Shields (December, 1963) WDAS FM Philadelphia
Design - Don Schlitten