Curtis Peagler and the Jazz Disciples - It's a Blue World (45 single)

Alto saxophonist Curtis Peagler (1929-1992) fronted a group known as the Modern Jazz Disciples, which recorded two well-regarded LPs for New Jazz (an offshoot of Prestige) in 1959 and 1960.

The group had a rather unique easy swinging sound, due in large part to the use of a normaphone, played by William Kelley. This instrument is a valve trombone in the shape of an alto sax.

The Modern Jazz Disciples disbanded after the two New Jazz LPs and Peagler moved over to Columbia where he recorded a one-off single, It's a Blue World/Low Life, in 1961. This 45 did not lead to an album, a rather rare occurrence when you're talking about a jazz artist, and is now a collector's item.

Peagler is top billed (he wasn't on the LPs) and the "modern" has been dropped from the Jazz Disciples' name.

It's a Blue World



There is no indication of the personnel on this single and I'm not sure if the trombone sound is that of a normaphone. The two sides have not been released digitally.

Peagler went on to spend three years with the Ray Charles orchestra and seven years with Count Basie. He also worked in the recording studios and put out a couple of albums under his own name.

Here's Curtis Peagler with the Modern Jazz Disciples from one of their LPs recorded for Prestige.

Houston Person - Goodness!

Houston Person was very much in a funk/soul jazz vein for Goodness! (1969), his sixth album for the Prestige label. The tenor saxophonist was still relatively unknown at the time he recorded it.

Guitarist Billy Butler and organist Sonny Phillips were the prominent sidemen on the session, which also included Bob Bushnell on bass, Frankie Jones on drums and Buddy Caldwell, congas.

To promote the LP Prestige issued a single with severely shortened versions of Jamilah and the title song.

As you can see Goodness clocked in at just 3:50 on the 45. On the LP it was over nine minutes. The single version is below.

Goodness



The Goodness! album was released on CD by Original Jazz Classics in 1995 and cheap copies of it abound on Amazon and elsewhere. It isn't available as a download.

Here's the full length version of Jamilah from the LP.

Johnny "Hammond" Smith - Ebb Tide (single)

Kentucky-born John Robert Smith (1933-1997) was one of a handful of jazz musicians who was nicknamed after his instrument -- in this case the Hammond organ. Smith chose the moniker to distinguish himself from jazz guitarist Johnny Smith and the more well-known organist Jimmy Smith.

Johnny "Hammond Smith" recorded a mittful of well-received soul-jazz albums for Prestige between 1959 and 1970, including a 1967 release that was originally titled Gettin' Up.

When a track from it, Ebb Tide, started getting DJ and jukebox play the title of the LP was changed to match the single.

The MP3 is taken from the 45.

Ebb Tide



Accompanying Smith on Ebb Tide are trumpeter Virgil Jones, saxophonist Houston Person, guitarist Thornel Schwartz (who played on many of Jimmy Smith's Blue Note recordings), Jimmy Lewis on bass guitar and John Harris on drums.

In 2000, the Ebb Tide LP was combined with a 1968 date, Nasty, on a Prestige CD called The Soulful Blues.

This album is easily obtainable either on disc or as a download. A used CD can be had for as little as $6.00.

Here's another track from the Gettin' Up/Ebb Tide LP, Stand By Me. This was also the flip side of the Ebb Tide single. Thanks to Groove Addict for the YouTube video.

Freddie McCoy - Beans & Greens

Vibraphonist Freddie McCoy was firmly in the soul-jazz camp in the handful of recordings he made for Prestige and Cobblestone between 1963 and 1971. McCoy disappeared from the music scene after the latter label folded and he passed away in 2009.

The LP Beans & Greens was recorded in 1967 and below you can listen to the title track Beans 'N Greens. And yes there is a difference in the spelling of the album and track titles. Note the addition of crowd noise, perhaps hoping to duplicate the success of Ramsey Lewis (The In Crowd, 1965), who recorded in a similar vein.

Beans 'N Greens



Personnel on the track besides McCoy included pianist Joanne Brackeen, Dave Blume on organ, Don Payne, bass guitar and Ray Lucas, drums. A couple of horn players and a guitarist were added on some of the other selections.

None of McCoy's recordings under his own name are available as downloads and only one album, Spider Man, has been released on CD -- and that's an expensive Japanese import.

Some of Freddie McCoy's work as a sideman with organist Johnny (Hammond) Smith is available as a download album, Jazz Essentials.

Here's another sample from the Beans & Greens album.

Houston Person - Close to You (single)

Like his main influence Gene Ammons, tenor saxophonist Houston Person has often found himself recording as part of an organ combo. He's accumulated an extensive catalogue of releases since he began recording in the 1960s. A good chunk of it, particularly his later albums for Muse and High Note, is available in digital formats.

The Close to You single (the "A" side was Son of Man) was taken from a 1970 Prestige album Person to Person!, recorded by a combo that included guitarist Grant Green and organist Sonny Phillips.

I'm not sure whether the single was sold commercially, since the only copies I've seen have been labelled or stamped as DJ promos. In any case the 45 version of Close to You runs less than half the length of the album cut, which is over five minutes. Below is a link to the single edit that was shipped to radio stations.

Close to You



Person to Person! and another 1970 release Houston Express were combined on a 1996 CD release, Legends of Acid Jazz.

It's out of print but is still available in the Amazon Marketplace. Unfortunately, it carries a rather hefty price tag.

None of Houston Person's recordings for Prestige in the 1960s and '70s appear to have been made available via downloads.

Here's a wonderful Person performance from a date at the Iridium in New York City in January 2012. Excellent audio and video quality.