Stanley Turrentine - Don't Mess With Mr.T (1973)

Two shots were made at recording this album, one in March 73 and the other in June and July of the same year. On the original record only the results of the second session were released, the main difference between the two sessions was that Idris Muhammad replaced Billy Cobham. The main difference between them was probably that Idris was more willing to follow Creed Taylor’s instructions than Billy!

Make no mistake Stanley Turrentine was one of the great jazz tenor players, he had a great sound on his instrument, a wonderful jazz feel, a superb improvising ability and a faultless technique. This album does justice to all these attributes and whether the lush backings which are occasionally heard add anything, is a matter of choice but they are trademark Creed Taylor. Creed Taylor who was the record’s producer and at the time the owner proprietor of the label had his own ideas on how to package jazz to make it more palatable to the general public. The record sales show that he was successful and if that’s the case he deserves to be remembered for spreading the word.

The rhythm section on both versions of the recording session was excellent. Ron Carter’s immaculate bass playing anchors the rhythm section and both Billy Cobham and Idris Muhammad propel things along well, the former however gave more of a real jazz feel to Don’t Mess, but the recording of the Turrentine sax and general balance is better on the latter session.

Stanley Turrentine first came to fame in the jazz world in the 1960’s when he recorded two albums with Hammond organist Jimmy Smith called Midnight Special and back at the Chicken Shack. These albums defined the Hammond organ trio for a decade or more.

If you don’t have anything in your collection by Stanley Turrentine, this is a good start. If you are a tenor sax player looking for a good sound, here it is!

Don Mather (musicweb-international)


Track listings:

1 Don't Mess With Mister T.
2 Two for T.
3 Too Blue
4 I Could Never (Repay Your Love)

Personnel:

Stanley Turrentine (ts) Harry Cykman, Harry Glickman, Emanuel Green, Harold Kohon, Guy Lumia, David Nadien, John Pintavalle, Irving Spice (vln) Harold Coletta, Emanuel Vardi (vla) Seymour Barab, George Ricci (vlc) Bob James (p, el-p, arr, cond) Richard Tee (org) Eric Gale (el-g) Ron Carter (b) Idris Muhammad (d) Rubens Bassini (per)
Recorded at the Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, June 7, 1973

Buy It!