A CTI Soul Jazz Classic: Salt Song From Stanley Turrentine 1971

Salt Song is One of the better CTI Jazz releases from the 1970's. It was given to us by the underrated tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine.

An album with a thoughtfully arranged orchestra from Eumir Deodato, that never seems over produced.

I love the bass grooves, and tasteful electric piano, that sets the tone for the soul drenched sax playing from Turrentine.

This is one of those records that demands a complete spin, a track here and there won't d0. It has the vibe of a concept album and needs to be appreciated in its entirety. The production on these better CTI classics,  do add something special, instead of taking away from the music, like so many over-produced records can.

Some may say over-production is the word, and there is indeed a fine line between taste and schmaltz, but this record is not one of them, a great tasteful record this is. "Gibraltar" below is a nice start the album, and sets the island mood throughout, the Ron Carter bass and Airto percussion colors set the tone. Also guitarist Eric Gale offers some nice solo guitar, particularly on  "Gilberte" below.

The solemn gospel blues "I Told Jesus" is a moving piece, the Deodato strings augmenting the track do just what is required, nothing more. The vocal exclamation of "I Told Jesus by the trio of singers, Margaret Branch, Brenda Bryant, Patsy Smith works very well, the only way this track could get better is if Ray Charles were singing it.

The title track "Salt Song" starts with an ominous vibe, Airto offers some nice percussion backing, and Ron Carter does some slippery bass as the tune morphs into a clear Bossa Nova vibe, it picks up the pace as the track rides on... Pay attention to Airto here, he really does some fine varied work to make the track shimmer.

"I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do" is an uber ballad with a flirt with sappy schmaltz on the strings side of things. The electric piano is very tasteful,  I do like the sound, but the strings burst worried me at first.

Not that I mind strings or orchestra flourishes, but too much of it and It becomes so saturated, that it drowns out the rest of the music. Stanley shines brightly here, though the track is easily my least favorite on record.

"Storm" is another Airto friendly track, reminds me of Santana more than Stanley Turrentine, until that sugar sweet tenor sax arrives riding the shaker/percussion wave.

Turrentine sure could make anything sound sultry, yeah sultry, that's the way to boil this album down to one word, it does have a sexy hot vibe. I envision a mood at night, in humid 90 degree heat, just as the sun begins to disappear under the sea.

Maybe a light breeze blowing off the ocean too, a far cry from the 27 degrees and light snow I am experiencing here in Dayton Ohio today.

The final track "Vera Cruz" is very much in the same vein as the previous track, island sounds with hot saxophone work, tasteful Deodato arrangements, and tasty electric piano. I like the sound of the electric piano a lot here.

Make no mistake about it, Salt Song is a jazz record, not an over produced fusion album. If you like the Freddie Hubbard CTI records, you'll like this.

 If Bossa Nova is your thing, more the better, and if you're into the original Chick Corea Return to Forever band, the one with Joe Farrell on sax, and Flora Purim singing, you'll dig this soul jazz classic.

If you are more of a Blue Note Turrentine fan that's OK,  you will certainly tell a marked difference between albums like  Blue Note's Jubilee Shout and CTI's Salt Song.