Man, there are a lot of organ combo albums in the world that I have never even heard of, much less heard. The one I have on while I write this, Willis Jackson's Please Mr. Jackson, has Bill Jennings on guitar and Jack McDuff on organ, and Jennings is one of those guys I would hear referenced by everyone from Chuck Berry to Duke Robillard, without having any idea what he sounded like.

Jackson himself, at least on this first blues, "Cool Grits," seems to be channeling Ben Webster's furry, insistent, conversational-bordering-on-confrontational approach, and while I could merely be under-listened (mathematically, it seems a sure thing), I don't think I've ever heard another tenor player sound so clearly inspired by Webster in particular.

Since I enjoy Ben Webster immensely while also finding him a convenient refuge from the must-choose duality of Coleman Hawkins vs. Lester Young – two essential jazz musicians I can thoroughly appreciate yet regarding whom I am still awaiting my own awakening to – I'm delighted to have stumbled across this particular album, even if it does leave me feeling unpleasantly beholden to The Algorithm.

And even though, as with other albums of this ilk, I will probably skim off the blues tracks into a playlist and leave the ballads and such for another time, or for never. I do believe listening to albums in their entirety does allow those records to eventually open up in a way that the skimming does not, but there is a certain kind of organ drama I remain impatient with, the same way I squirmed, as a kid, through any kind of musical number that had the temerity to invade whatever movie or TV show I happened to be watching (Muppet Show excepted).

Still, "Cool Grits" is worth the price of admission. Meanwhile, if you enjoyed the turnaround lessons I did on my channel last month, today's Youtube lesson continues in that vein with an example of how to play double-time over the IV chord in the last line of a twelve-bar blues.

You can find the lesson here:

Double Time Pentatonic Turnarounds

This month in the Fingerstyle Five membership, I'm teaching my A minor blues "Zoozoo Bingo" and revisiting "St. James Infirmary." 

There's also new tab for my arrangement of – and improvised solo on – "Freight Train" from the "Fix Your Travis Picking In Six Steps" lesson, plus "Bryant Park," a new twelve-bar blues in E with various cool chord substitutions, including, of course, the Ray Bryant turnaround.

Use the link below to learn more and sign up:

The Fingerstyle Five

More soon,

David

P.S. The next Reliable Source workshop, Freddie Green Rhythm Changes, will take place Saturday, February 1st. More details soon!