Stanley Turrentine (1934-2000) spent the first decade of his career on Blue Note, before signing to Creed Taylor's newly independent CTI imprint. Salt Song was Turrentine's second album for CTI, and arguably his best, with his gently breezy tone seemingly made for the in-house arrangements of Eumir Deodato. I remember including Salt Song's opener, Freddie Hubbard's Gibraltar, on a mix CD for a DJ mate who was a Bob James obsessive, and he absolutely loved it. Eric Gale's slinky guitar part is almost an equal lead instrument over the Carter & Cobham groove.
The album's second half starts in upbeat Latin mode, with the Milton Nascimento-penned title track, and ends with another muscular groove (and a great Gale solo) in Storm, the only Turrentine original. In between is another lush ballad, I Haven't Got Anything Better To Do, which had also been done by Astrud Gilberto on her album of the same name. CD remasters add another Nascimento tune, Vera Cruz - as mentioned on Friday - which dated back to the Spring of 1971, and the sessions for Turrentine's (sort of) collaboration with Gilberto. All of which brings us neatly to the album below...
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bonus post: Gilberto With Turrentine
...and to Astrud Gilberto's only album for CTI. If intended as a full collaboration with Turrentine as per the title, in the end only three tracks featured both artists, and only further track featured Stanley Turrentine. Unhappy with the way the album was going, Gilberto then walked out on the sessions, leaving Vera Cruz instrumental, and the other instrumental track To A Flame featuring neither headline artist.
So if this album ended up as a bit of a 'could have been' - I'd certainly have loved to hear Astrud sing one of my favourite Stephen Stills songs - what remains is still a great listen for anyone who enjoys the CTI ensemble in its heyday. The first two tracks, a Bacharach/David song then a Deodato arrangement of a Brazilian tune, certainly set up a potentially classic Astrud Gilberto album, and she's in fine voice throughout.
P.S. Just learned of the passing of João Gilberto, bossanova pioneer and Astrud's ex-husband - RIP.
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I love CTI dearly, and have just about every title from the 3000 and 6000 series. But having said that, man, Creed could throw off a weird vibe of cheesy factory-line like assembly sometimes. The results were never going to be (jazz "purists" be damned) terrible with those kind of people involved - but I bet having some footage of the background planning and arrangements would make an interesting documentary.
ReplyDeleteFor sure, I'd watch the hell out of that. The way CTI relates to "purist" jazz for me is like a nice bit of tiramisu after a big meal: I wouldn't advise multiple portions out of the blue, but at just the right time it goes down a treat.
DeleteWell, especially as time went on. But in the early days, there are some bona fide classics that don't require any sort of caveat to praise. If I had to pick my absolute favorite CTI release of all time, it's probably the Joe Farrell quartet album from 1970, which is about as "un-CTI" like in terms of general sound as almost anything in the catalog.
DeleteBut I mean, having said that - I love me some Deodato, early Bob James and later Freddie Hubbard too. But his stock company of rotating players was an interesting thing, for sure.
My favourites are both Jobim: Stone Flower is just gorgeous, and Wave (does it count though, A&M era?) is possibly my favourite album of all time. And Salt Song, of course. Must look up that Farrell album, I do like a bit of Moon Germs.
DeleteNot knowing anything of its origins, I've always loved the vibe of the Gilberto/Turrentine album. To me it's perfect, smooth and sophisticated, a touch of melancholy as is always the case with Gilberto's voice. And the fact that it's short is also to its benefit.
ReplyDeleteAll true; I'm starting to think I might've done it a bit of a disservice with the review above! Astrud's always sublime singing Bacarach, I should've given Where There's A Heartbreak a heads-up.
Deletethank you!
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