Stanley Turrentine's 1962 Blue Note Jubilee Shout: Not Released Until 1986

I have never considered Stanley Turrentine (1934-2000) to be in the upper echelon of saxophonists. Why?

Well, I did not consider him to be a ground breaker as a writer or as an instrumentalist.

like anyone else, I know John Coltrane makes Turrentine seem like an afterthought when you compare the two's critical legacies.

 Other than Charlie Parker, and perhaps Lester Young, who doesn't Coltrane do that to?

I have spent the last few weeks re-accessing Stanley, and there is no doubt, I undervalued his playing and writing.  Jubilee Shout is one of those grossly overlooked records. His larger band stuff like Joy Ride is also very interesting.  I also like his 70's CTI fusion work, Sugar and Salt Song, they are very good records. The track "Minor Chant" from Back at the Chicken Shack sticks out to me as a fine example of Stanley's blues drenched soul jazz playing.

A Pair of Underrated Stanley Turrentine Blue Note Albums: Mr. Natural and Another Story

One of the greatest things about being a vinyl crate digger is finding hidden gems in the particular genre you have a passion for.

This pair of hidden 1960's gems from Stanley Turrentine are hard to complain about:  Mr Natural from 1964, but not released until 198o with those shoddy pseudo-hipster album covers; that paid no mind to the proud Blue Note/Reid Miles designs of the 50's and 60's.

 In fact, those covers I always thought were an embarrassment. The pictured Mr. Natural cover was the Japanese reissue on CD, which does a better job at living up to the Blue Note legacy in my opinion.

Accompanying Stanley on the album are Lee Morgan on trumpet, McCoy Tyner on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, with Elvin Jones in the drum chair.

 Another Story was released in 1969, and features Thad Jones on flugelhorn, Cedar Walton on Piano, Mickey Roker on drums, and Buster Williams on bass.