At the tail end of October, I devoted several posts to Wild Bill Davis, who I feel is the true father of the soul-jazz organ. Davis's superb taste, popular success and treatment of the instrument as a big band in the late 1940s and early '50s helped pave the way for all organists who followed. Coming in at No. 2 would have to be Milt Buckner, who began recording on piano with Lionel Hampton in 1941 and switched over to organ in 1951. Even on piano, Buckner treated the keyboard like a Hammond, all but inventing the locked-hands technique, in which he played a song's melody with both hands moving in unison on four-note chords with the melody note on top. The result was a broad, exciting sound.
On March 15, 1966, Buckner teamed with tenor saxophonist Illinois Jacquet (above) and Alan Dawson on drums at Lennie's on the Turnpike, a jazz club on Rt. 1 North in Peabody, Mass., just outside of Boston. The evening was taped, and the recording was released by Cadet Records as Go Power!
Go power, indeed. Jacquet began his recording career with Lionel Hampton in 1941 and he also was part of promoter Norman Granz's early Jazz at the Philharmonic touring concert series mid-decade. By 1947, Jacquet was leading his own big bands and small groups. Counted squarely among jazz's "tough tenors," Jacquet played a gruff, take-charge saxophone. Contemporaries who shared this bossy sound were Arnett Cobb, Buddy Tate and Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis. They were followed in the '50s by David "Fathead" Newman and King Curtis, among others.
As evidenced by the audience's reaction on Go Power!, Jacquet and Buckner (above) put on quite a show. Jacquet wailed through songs such as On a Clear Day, Robbins Nest, Illinois Jacquet Flies Again (a twist on his 1942 recording of Flying Home), Herbie Hancock's Watermelon Man, I Want a Little Girl, Jacquet's Pamela's Blues and Norman Simmons's Jan. For his part, Buckner on organ set a thick groove, supporting Jacquet with riffs throughout, like an R&B horn section. Dawson just had to keep time, and he did so with drive and force.
Buckner and Jacquet would team up again numerous times. They can be heard on albums that include Play, Milt, Play (1966),The King (1968) and The Soul Explosion (1969) as well as on about 10 lives albums such as Genius at Work, recorded at Ronnie Scott's in London with Tony Crombie on drums in 1971. Together, they were a jazz marriage made in Hammond heaven.
Milt Buckner died in 1977, Illinois Jacquet died in 2004 and Alan Dawson died in 1996.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Illinois Jacquet's Go Power! (Cadet) here.
The album also is available at Spotify.
JazzWax clips: Here's Robbins Nest, a disc jockey theme written by Sir Charles Thompson for Fred Robbins, who hosted his Robbins Nest jazz show on three different New York radio stations...
