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Stanley Turrentine
Stanley William Turrentine was one of the most distinctive tenor saxophonists in jazz. Known for his big, warm, sound, "The Sugar Man" or the original "Mr. T" found inspiration in the blues and turned it into a hugely successful career with a #1 hit and four Grammy nominations — first in R&B and then in jazz.
Born on April 5, 1934 in Pittsburgh, a city that has produced more than its share of jazz masters, Turrentine hailed from a musical family. His saxophone-playing father was a big influence, as was his stride piano-playing mother and older brother, the late trumpeter Tommy Turrentine.
One of Stanley's earliest influences on sax was tenor great Illinois Jacquet. Jacquet once encouraged a 12-year old Stanley to sit in with him. At 17, Turrentine went on the road with bluesman Lowell Fulson. In 1953, he was hired by R&B saxman and bandleader Earl Bostic to replace John Coltrane.
A consummate musician who learned his craft through disparate experiences and influences, Turrentine received his only formal musical training during his military stint in the mid-'50s. In 1959, he jumped from the frying pan into the fire when he left the military and went straight into the band of the great drummer Max Roach.
Turrentine married organist Shirley Scott (left) in 1960. When they moved to Philadelphia, they befriended Hammond B-3 organ legend Jimmy Smith and Turrentine quickly immersed himself in the Smith's soulful jazz organ sound. He even recorded on Jimmy's epochal Blue Note album Midnight Special.
The organ-centered soul-jazz that Jimmy Smith and Shirley Scott concocted provided Turrentine the perfect gateway to cross over into pop territory. His first foray in this new, more radio-friendly music began in 1969 when he signed with Creed Taylor's slick and successful CTI label.
Turrentine's first album for CTI, Sugar, was released in 1970 and yielded the classic tune of the same name. He continued with a string a pop-laced crossover albums for CTI including the 1971 hit Don't Mess with Mr. T. His relative success, despite his continued ability to deliver in the straight-ahead jazz vein, led to a predictable critical backlash. Listen to L.A. Times jazz critic Don Heckman, bassist Ray Brown, and Stanley talk about the critical backlash he received after making pop-oriented hit albums
Nevertheless, Turrentine persevered on the ever-changing landscape of jazz, by tapping into his enduring, soulful sound and bluesy approach. He remained a perennial favorite among jazz fans well up to his untimely death on Sept.
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CTI: A Guilty Pleasure Special
by Patrick Burnette
Mike's busy in Europe so Pat goes solo with a look at controversial jazz label CTI. A lynchpin of the early seventies, record buyers loved the artwork, high production values and impeccable musicianship, but hard-core jazzbos and critics were suspicious that owner Creed Taylor was putting too much sugar into the mixes, not to mention those sprinklings of Stravinsky! This episode was recorded before Creed Taylor's death but now stands as a tribute to him. Playlist Discussion of ...
read moreBack At The Chicken Shack
by Thomas Fletcher
Back At The Chicken Shack celebrates 60 years since its recording date at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs. The same session produced Midnight Special (Blue Note, 1961), though Back At The Chicken Shack would have to wait three years for its release. The label's co-founder, Alfred Lion, later revealed that the healthy sales of this album, alongside many others from Jimmy Smith, kept the record company afloat. The album features, at the time, a youthful but ...
read moreCTI on BGO, Part 2
by Jakob Baekgaard
2018 proved to be a very good year for reissues of CTI-albums on the British label, BGO. They stepped up with an abundance of albums from the likes of guitarist Jim Hall, saxophonist Stanley Turrentine and flautist Hubert Laws (you can read about them here). So far, 2019 also looks promising and kicks off with releases from Brazilian percussion wizard Airto Moreira and Turrentine. Hubert Laws also returns, this time in a combined release with guitarist George Benson.
read moreStanley Turrentine and The 3 Sounds: Blue Hour – 1960
by Marc Davis
Every good record collection has music for many moods. Feeling frantic? Try Dizzy Gillespie or the Ramones. Feel like dancing? Definitely the big bands. Feeling wistful? Maybe Ben Webster or Frank Sinatra. But if you're feeling blue, you need Stanley Turrentine, and Blue Hour is exactly the right prescription. Stanley Turrentine is the very definition of jazzy blues, in almost any setting, with almost any backing band. His soulful sax features heavily on two of my ...
read moreStanley Turrentine: Don't Mess With Mister T.
by Dan Bilawsky
When the CTI label originally released tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine's Don't Mess With Mister T. in 1973, it managed to bring music to the public that served as a sign of the times, while also helping to define the times. The soul within Turrentine's horn had been at the center of his earlier successes for the label--Sugar (CTI, 1970), Salt Song (CTI, 1971) and Cherry (CTI, 1972)--but it really rose to the surface and reached its peak with this release. ...
read moreStanley Turrentine: Salt Song
by Dan Bilawsky
Stanley Turrentine's Sugar (CTI, 1970) has always stood out as the defining album in the tenor saxophonist's post-Blue Note discography, but that recording only marked the beginning of his beautiful relationship with Creed Taylor's CTI imprint. Turrentine's time with the label spanned the first half of the '70s and produced a few other winning albums that draped his thick, soulful sound in more modern aural fabrics of the times. Salt Song (CTI, 1971) was his follow-up to ...
read moreStanley Turrentine: Look Out!
by Andrew Velez
This 1960 set is from a period which many consider to have been Stanley Turrentine's most creative. The saxophonist, who would have been 75 this month (March), was just coming out of an extended run with Max Roach's notably up-tempo orchestra. Backed here by a then-emerging powerhouse of sidemen, the set kicks off with the title track, a tersely phrased Turrentine blues composition. The straightforward rhythm section—bassist George Tucker and drummer Al Harewood—makes a perfect berth for some wide open ...
read moreJazz Musician of the Day: Stanley Turrentine
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Stanley Turrentine's birthday today!
Stanley William Turrentine was one of the most distinctive tenor saxophonists in jazz. Known for his big, warm, sound, “The Sugar Man" or the original “Mr. T" found inspiration in the blues and turned it into a hugely successful career with a #1 hit and four Grammy nominations — first in R&B and then in jazz. Born on April 5, 1934 in Pittsburgh, a city that has produced more than its ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Stanley Turrentine
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Stanley Turrentine's birthday today!
Stanley William Turrentine was one of the most distinctive tenor saxophonists in jazz. Known for his big, warm, sound, “The Sugar Man" or the original “Mr. T" found inspiration in the blues and turned it into a hugely successful career with a #1 hit and four Grammy nominations — first in R&B and then in jazz. Born on April 5, 1934 in Pittsburgh, a city that has produced more than its ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Stanley Turrentine
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Stanley Turrentine's birthday today!
Stanley William Turrentine was one of the most distinctive tenor saxophonists in jazz. Known for his big, warm, sound, “The Sugar Man" or the original “Mr. T" found inspiration in the blues and turned it into a hugely successful career with a #1 hit and four Grammy nominations — first in R&B and then in jazz. Born on April 5, 1934 in Pittsburgh, a city that has produced more than its ...
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Stanley Turrentine: Let It Go
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Yesterday, around 3 p.m., I felt like listening to Stanley Turrentine. I wanted something upbeat and sassy by the tenor saxophonist framed by Shirley Scott's finger-popping organ. I also wanted the groove to be mid-'60s swinging—churchy and soulful, not riffy or electric. A few great standards and a bunch of blues. Most of all, I wanted Turrentine and Scott to square off on solos, showing each other what they got. So I put on Turrentine's Let It Go, one of ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Stanley Turrentine
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Stanley Turrentine's birthday today!
Stanley William Turrentine was one of the most distinctive tenor saxophonists in jazz. Known for his big, warm, sound, “The Sugar Man" or the original “Mr. T" found inspiration in the blues and turned it into a hugely successful career with a #1 hit and four Grammy nominations — first in R&B and then in jazz. Born on April 5, 1934 in Pittsburgh, a city that has produced more than its ...
read more
Stanley Turrentine: Look Out!
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Stanley Turrentine was a more sizable force on the tenor saxophone than many jazz fans realize. His tone on the instrument was big and broad, his attack was powerful and his soulful feel was largely unmatched. There was a bluesy brashness and satiny swagger to Turrentine's sound, and his “peel out" just before launching into a solo was always exhilarating. And yet, he's not taken as seriously as, say, Hank Mobley or Joe Henderson. His first leadership album for Blue ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Stanley Turrentine
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Stanley Turrentine's birthday today!
Stanley William Turrentine was one of the most distinctive tenor saxophonists in jazz. Known for his big, warm, sound, “The Sugar Man" or the original “Mr. T" found inspiration in the blues and turned it into a hugely successful career with a #1 hit and four Grammy nominations — first in R&B and then in jazz. Born on April 5, 1934 in Pittsburgh, a city that has produced more than its ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Stanley Turrentine
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Stanley Turrentine's birthday today!
Stanley William Turrentine was one of the most distinctive tenor saxophonists in jazz. Known for his big, warm, sound, “The Sugar Man" or the original “Mr. T" found inspiration in the blues and turned it into a hugely successful career with a #1 hit and four Grammy nominations — first in R&B and then in jazz. Born on April 5, 1934 in Pittsburgh, a city that has produced more than its ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Stanley Turrentine
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Stanley Turrentine's birthday today!
Stanley William Turrentine was one of the most distinctive tenor saxophonists in jazz. Known for his big, warm, sound, “The Sugar Man" or the original “Mr. T" found inspiration in the blues and turned it into a hugely successful career with a #1 hit and four Grammy nominations — first in R&B and then in jazz. Born on April 5, 1934 in Pittsburgh, a city that has produced more than its ...
read more
Stanley Turrentine: 3 Videos
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Stanley Turrentine (1934-2000) had a big, full, bossy sound on the tenor saxophone—less sassy than, say, Gene Ammons, but smokier with a strong, soulful attack. He was at his best when paired with pianist Horace Parlan or his wife, organist Shirley Scott. In the following three videos, we get a sense of Turrentine's soul-jazz feel and his confident articulation: Here's Turrentine in the mid-1980s playing Stevie Wonder's Creepin'... Here's Turrentine in 1990 performing Sugar... And here's Turrentine in 1997 performing ...
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Harrison Goldberg
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Myanna Pontoppidan
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Don Braden
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Henry Johnson Jazz
guitar and vocals
Charles Langford
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Peter Fraize
saxophone
Lyn Stanley
vocals
Nadine Fambrough-Gates
saxophone
Bill Hauser
saxophone, tenor
Zachary McDonald
bass, electricPhotos
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Stanley Turrentine
Instrument: Saxophone, tenor
Born: April 5, 1934
Died: September 12, 2000
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