On “Nasty”, Smith presents a
quartet comprising of the mighty Houston Person on tenor, a young John
Abercrombie on guitar and Grady Tate on drums. With six tunes in all the
musicians have plenty of room to showcase their versatility and stretch out
with some fine soloing. It’s very much a typical late 60’s soul jazz groove
with many popular covers from that era. Nonetheless, it’s delivered with solid
precision; the only complaint being’ it’s a bit on the short side, but avoids
the excesses that many soul jazz artists started to indulge in. Some of the
highlights include the title cut, a funk blues take on “Unchained Melody” and
Smith’s slow burning groove on “Song For My Father”, Enjoy!
Prestige Records, PRST 7588,
1968
Recorded 18th
June, 1968 At Town Sound Studios, New York City
Musicians:
Johnny "Hammond"
Smith - Organ
Houston Person - Tenor
Saxophone
John Abercrombie - Guitar
Grady Tate - Drums
Tracks:
A1. If I Were A Bell {Frank
Loesser} (8:33)
A2. Song For My Father
{Horace Silver} (7:10)
A3. Speak Low {Ogden Nash,
Kurt Weill} (9:30)
B1. Unchained Melody {Alex
North, Hy Zaret} (3:44)
B2. Nasty {Johnny
"Hammond" Smith} (9:00)
B3. Four Bowls Of Soul
{Johnny "Hammond" Smith} (7:08)
Credits:
Producer - Cal Lampley
Recording Engineer - Orville
O'Brien
Liner Notes - Christopher Peters (August, 1968)
