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Johnny Hammond:Breakout
 LTI Records
5051682
Crotchet midprice
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- It’s Too Late
- Workin’ On a Groovy Thing
- Never Can say Goodbye
- Blues Selah
- Breakout
- It’s Too Late
Tracks 1 to 5
Johnny Hammond – Organ Hank Crawford – Alto Eric Gale
– Guitar Airto Morieira – Percussion Billy Cobham – Drums Danny Moore
– Trumpet Johnny Williams – Fender Bass Grover Washington – Tenor
Track6
George Benson replaces Gale Freddie Hubbard replaces
Danny Moore Stanley Turrentine replaces Grover Washington
Creed Taylor who founded CTI records knew in the 1970’s
just what the public wanted and through his company, he gave it to them.
By the 1980’s however he had lost the midas touch and the label was
sold to Epic which is now part of SONY.
This is a typical Taylor production, every musician
is a star and the titles selected to have the broadest appeal, this
brought commercial success but to me at the expense of not always hearing
the individual musicians to best advantage. Track 6 is a case in point,
I felt quite excited as I waited for the solos from the likes of Freddie
Hubbard and Stanley Turrentine, unfortunately there isn’t any. They
are only present to play the theme statement! On the other tracks Grover
Washington and Hank Crawford fare a little better, but not that much
better! The Hammond organ dominates throughout and in this sense Johnny
Hammond is the same as Jimmy Smith and Jack McDuff, only Shirley Scott
seems to have a sense of proportion on the instrument.
The music is however well played as you would expect
when all the players are top instrumentalists, but the organ domination
makes it all sound much the same.
Don Mather
CD Reviews
