Organ Jazz From Baby Face Willette: Face to Face From 1961

Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette was a Jazz organist who released only 4 albums as a leader, and appeared on only a few as a side man.

Willette passed away in 1971 at the age of 37. The only real notoriety he has received has come in the last decade or so.

 His 2 Blue Note sessions as a leader, Face to Face and Stop and Listen have been reissued in a limited production run, Face to Face has been released on a 180 gram vinyl, a limited edition by the European label Doxy.

I always prefer the original Blue Note pressing if possible, but escalating prices and scarcity make this very difficult sometimes, I don't believe Face to Face was ever reissued by Blue Note its self on vinyl? So this pictured Doxy reissue is very welcome.

Face to Face is an album that features Willette in a soul jazz vain, not unlike Jimmy Smith in style, yet a little more of a gospel or blues influence is noted.

Guitarist Grant Green offers his support on the album, and as always adds a distinctive single note sound.  Green does not use the octaves like Wes Montgomery did. Grant Green really was an underrated player, who also has received the credit he deserved long after his death, Willette also played on Green's Blue Note album Grant's First Stand.

Green plays some seriously advanced single note runs on the lead off track "Swingin' at Sugar Rays" and the tenor sax of Fred Jackson adds some down home flavor.
If you are Hammond or Soul Jazz collector, Face to Face is a must have, and Grant Green Fans should go through hell to hear this record, if you can find an original pressing of Face to Face on eBay, it could set you back the better part of $500.

I was fortunate to find this Doxy reissue at Half Price Books, a chain of discount books and music stores located in the Mid West. I paid $7.99, a bargain indeed.

Miles Davis Someday My Prince Will Come (1961)

1961's Someday My Prince Will Come is one of the underrated albums in the discography of Miles Davis.

A transitional album if there ever was one. John Coltrane appears on two tracks, the title track and the Epic "Teo", the latter being my personal favorite solo from Coltrane during the Davis era.

Someday My Prince Will Come is also known as the album where the usually stellar and underrated tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley is upstaged by Coltrane.

Indeed Mobley does seem over matched head to head, but Mobley pound for pound was a very capable melodic player, and it is unfair he is compared to Coltrane.

I must say, I believe Mobley was out of place with Davis, after all it took Miles 4 years to find Wayne Shorter after Coltrane left the band for good in 1960.

"Someday" leads off with the title track, taken from the 1937 film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  This track features solos by Coltrane and Mobley. Mobley doesn't embarrass him self, but next to Trane it's not fair.

Is Coltrane's Best Solo on "Teo"?

"Teo" is a droning modal track that Mobley sits out completely on. Coltrane just searches and searches the minor key, and plays with such an earnestness, that you get caught up with the Coltrane oratory.

You feel like a something extra is happening here, beyond your typical jazz saxophone solo.  The minor key adds to the exotic vibe, but Coltrane pleading his case to such an awesome extent really is breathtaking. 

I've also felt the vibe was very much in line with his masterpiece A Love Supreme, remarkable the probing style that he uses here.

One of the best .99 cent buys you'll ever make.