Soulful Sound Open to the World: Some Notes on Stanley Turrentine

Stanley Turrentine’s sound opens the ear to what music and ultimately art is all about. Turrentine’s riffs at times allude to TV ad jingles, to classical music, to pop tunes, to nursery school songs, and to his own jazz fusion and be-bop tradition. Turrentine’s sound is one that opens itself to everything. Turrentine makes for a great choice in the Sony BMG Jazz Moods series. Click here for more details about the entire Sony BMG Jazz Moods series.

Turrentine’s Jazz Moods release collects seven total tracks off of THE SUGAR MAN, DON’T MESS WITH MISTER T, SUGAR, CHERRY, and SALT SONG. According to the liner notes the opening track MAKE ME RAINBOWS has never been released before, and for aficionados it is worth the price of admission all by itself.

In SUNSHINE ALLEY never is it more evident that Turrentine can elate and make sanguine. This piece is most representative of the selections on the EPIC/Legacy Jazz Moods release. From digging riffs, to backbeat, to finger snapping bop SUNSHINE ALLEY with D.C. Randolph might be the signature piece here.

That said SUNSHINE ALLEY is off of the album SUGAR and the final track on this collection is SUGAR. I mention this because those new to Turrentine may not realize that SUGAR is Turrentine’s main claim to popular success. Yet, in the mix here, it doesn’t necessarily standout.

If you’re new to Turrentine and want to understand what people are talking about when they call a piece of music “soulful” then give Turrentine a listen--you will then understand.

As a child, Turrentine’s father used to have him listen to many different saxophonists playing the same song so that the young Turrentine might improve his ear towards the unique sound of the individual artist. When listening to Turrentine, even on this abbreviated selected, the range and breadth of the tones here give such a distinct signature.

These sometimes drowsy, sometimes syncopated pieces increase in their pleasure the more I listen to them. Their humble sophistication reveals itself over time for those who are willing to be as open to the music as the music is open to them.

Article Author: David Koehn

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