MILT JACKSON & RAY CHARLES
Soul Brothers
Atlantic
Recorded 1957
1. Soul Brothers
2. How Long Blues
3. Cosmic Ray
4. Blue Funk
5. Bag's Guitar Blues
PERSONNEL
MILT JACKSON; vibraphone, guitar
RAY CHARLES; piano, alto sax
BILLY MITCHELL; tenor sax
SKEETER BEST; guitar
OSCAR PETTIFORD; bass
CONNIE KAY; drums
I made a comment during this post a couple of days ago that if you were looking for laid-back bluesiness, you had found it. Well, this 1957 gem takes that idea to it's extreme with 'How Long Blues', 9 glorious minutes of blues improvisation that I implore you to listen to. No introductions are required, of course - both leaders were accomplished and popular multi-instrumentalists. Mind you, they are forever associated with their work on piano or vibes, which is a shame, as Charles takes a great turn on alto on a couple of tracks here, and Jackson shows us all how bluesy jazz guitar should be done on 'Bag's Guitar Blues' - as well as playing piano, to boot.
Also perceptible in the grooves of this record is a healthy dose of soul. By the time of this recording, Charles was a bona-fide R&B star after hits like 'I Got A Woman'. He'd always been a handy jazz player too, but on this album he brings some soul sensibility. This recording must be one of the earliest 'soul-jazz' albums, and has certainly been an influence on the 1960s rare groove set.
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