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Travelin' Light (we can all be friends)
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Shirley Scott & Kenny Burrell
"Travelin' Light"
SHIRLEY SCOTT
TRAVELIN LIGHT
...
SHIRLEY SCOTT, organ
KENNY BURRELL, guitar
OTIS FINCH, drums
EDDIE KAHN, bass
...
Long before I became employed as a radio announcer, I was familiar with the talents of Shirley Scott. Her many albums with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis on Prestige have been in my record collection from back in the days when I had to purchase records. I no longer have to pay for records, but if I did, I would buy this one.
The Hammond organ has really gained a degree of prominence it has not heretofore enjoyed. The widespread popularity and acceptance of the Hammond organ was slow in coming The two terms "popularity and acceptance" do not necessarily mean the same thing. An artist or instrument may well I have a very large popular following with the general public, but may still be frowned upon by the critics and musicologists. To a large degree the public popularity of the Hammond has always been with us, but only recently has the critical endorsement been placed upon the instrument.
As of April, 1964 the jazz organ had truly arrived and Miss Shirley Scott has been one of the prime movers behind this arrival.
I feel that all too often the Hammond organ has been considered a gimmick and an extremely cumbersome instrument. Then again there are many people who decry the use of electric guitars. They say that electrification is a bastardization of the instrument. When in reality the amplified guitar is a different instrument. Granted the Hammond organ uses electricity to power it but let us not judge the method of producing this album, let us listen to the musical results. There in lies the final proof. So plug in your set or wind it up, and let us be off.
The lead off tune is the Billie Holiday standard Travelin' Light. I do not mean to imply that Billie wrote the tune because she did not, Johnny Mercer and Jimmy Mundy did. She made it her song by singing it as often and as only as she could. It was exclusively Billie's up until Miss Scott did it.
Shirley proves that there is room for two. She leads gracefully joined by drummer Otis Finch, bassist Eddie Kahn, and guitarist Kenny Burrell.
It is in back of Kenny's solo that Shirley demonstrates her comping ability. She supports Kenny without ever getting in the way or committing the by now standard foul — the "muddy bottom". Oftentimes jazz organ players make the supporting chords so loud so as to become dominant. Not so with Shirley Scott. Good taste prevails on this tune and throughout the album. The musical capabilities of the instrument are utilized and the artillery battery possibilities are not. There is the touch of the woman. Shirley then solos. Kenny again and then to a logical conclusion.
The tempo is up and the mood is slightly Latin on Miles Davis' Solar. The entire group leads it off to set the mood. Now that the beat is set as well as the mood we may proceed. Kenny has the first solo with Shirley's support and then the roles are reversed. Kenny's chords backing Shirley's solo are really intended for Miss Scott — the fact that we can hear them is just a bonus, Eddie Kahn has a bass solo, his only solo chance on this album. He makes the most of this opportunity as you will hear. But do not take my word for it, listen for yourself.
I have no no part in the naming of a of a record album but the next song title is definite possibility for this one — Nice and Easy. The opening is by Shirley
and she gives us the melody line from which we will build. The structure is solid and for this we must applaud Eddie Kahn and Otis Finch. These
are the kind of guys to have around the recording studio. A tune can only be nice and easy when everybody on the recording date is operating on the same frequency. Nobody fumbles on this one.
These are professional musicians and businessmen. We, as listeners, benefit from this professional atmosphere.
They Call it Stormy Monday. It could very well happen on a Wednesday, less likely on a Saturday, but it really fits into the Monday slot. It is not a day but a state of mind. The weekend was quite pleasurable, possibly a little wild, but most tiring.
The office must be made by 9:00 A.M. and you don't have even the slightest desire to work let alone get there. So, why not pour another cup of coffee and stay home today. Shirley Scott, Kenny Burrell, Otis Finch, Eddie Kahn, and myself think you should. I mean really, baby, it's bad out there.
Nothing need be said about the music, it creates a mood and the mood fits the title perfectly.
Which brings to mind the next tune, Frank Loesser's Baby It's Cold Outside and gives further supporting evidence that you should skip work today.
But in this case the stay at home will be much more constructive. Done in boy-girl duet form for many years, this one only gives credence to what I have suspected all along — it does require two.
It is still boy girl, but Shirley and Kenny get it said without a word. Shirley Scott solos first, it is only proper, then Kenny takes it. This changing of the guard is accomplished in such a smooth way
so as to be almost imperceptible. Everybody gets back to the theme with a a deft little exchange between Shirley and Kenny. The melody is played relatively straight but not so straight as not to be fun.
The album closes with the traditional folk tune. The Kerry Dance and the first and last impression left with hearing this track is "cooking". Otis Finch provides the punctuation to a simple little swinger taken at a fast tempo.
I kept the test pressing of this album around the apartment, but never far from the turntable, for two weeks before I started to write these notes.
The album and I are close and also good friends at this juncture and I am pleased that Prestige Records assigned to me such a pleasant task. Why not join the club and buy the album — so we can all be friends.
(album notes)
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Shirley Scott (March 14, 1934 – March 10, 2002) was an American jazz organist. Her music was noted for its mixture of bebop, blues, and gospel elements. She was known by the nickname "Queen of the Organ".
Scott was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father operated a jazz club in the basement of the family home and her brother played saxophone. At the age of eight, Scott began taking piano lessons. After enrolling at the Philadelphia High School for Girls, where she was awarded a scholarship, Scott switched to playing trumpet and performed in the all-city schools band.
She received bachelor and master's degrees at Cheyney University in Cheyney, west of Philadelphia. Later in life, Scott returned to the university as a teacher.
As a performer in the 1950s, she played the Hammond B-3 organ. Her recordings with Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis included the hit "In the Kitchen". Influenced by gospel and blues, she played soul jazz in the 1960s with Stanley Turrentine, who became her husband during the same decade; the couple divorced in 1971. Although organ trios declined in popularity during the 1970s, they resurged in the 1980s and she recorded again. In the 1990s, she recorded as pianist in a trio and performed at venues in Philadelphia.
Scott's success in the industry led her to her own recording with Prestige. Her first album as a bandleader was Great Scott!, released in 1958. She performed with bassist George Duvivier and drummer Arthur Edghill, as the head of the trio. The album consisted of a mix of blues and soul tunes with covers such as of Cole Porter's "All of You", and Latin-influenced tunes and up-tempo burners and ballads with songs such as "Brazil" and "Nothing Ever Changes My love For You". Other notable covers include Ray Noble's "Cherokee" and Miles Davis's "Four", and her own track "The Scott". Scott strategically chose to have a bassist in her recordings instead of a typical melodic instrument, to allow herself full freedom to explore the organ. Laying a bass foundation allowed her to stand out with the solo and melodic sections as an organist. ...
Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist, singer and composer known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige, Blue Note, Verve, CTI, Muse, and Concord. His collaborations with Jimmy Smith were notable, and produced the 1965 Billboard Top Twenty hit Verve album Organ Grinder Swing. Burrell has cited jazz guitarists Charlie Christian, Oscar Moore, and Django Reinhardt as influences, along with blues guitarists T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters. Burrell was born in Detroit. ... -- Wikipedia
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