Leo Wright - Soul Talk (1963) [2012 Japan 24-bit Remaster] mp3

Playing in the traditional idiom of the lounge setting (Wright on alto sax and flute, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Gloria Coleman on organ, and Frankie Dunlap on drums) could be fairly boring and pat, not to mention little more than background for some prime rib and a bottle of Blue Nun. Wright steers his group away from that with balance, control and unmatched intuition from all his players.

A key element of Soul Talk's success is restraint. Wright is a fantastic soloist with an expressively smooth and prolonged attack that jumps out and takes command without bowling over the other instruments. When his combo gets their moment to step up, they do it gracefully and with flair. Witness Coleman's organ vamps within their take on "Skylark," how she percolates in the background before jumping up for eight bars of wonderful before descending back into the track's natural warmth. Hear her impressively swelling sounds on Wright's upbeat arrangement of "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" - the original liners state that she must have spent long hours in a church to play with that feeling, and I can't argue with that. Her bass phrasing beneath Wright's bright alto on the title track sums up everything these folks were going for on this release, very much up there with the best work of Jimmy Smith or John Patton but with classier, less showy appeal.


Tracks:

01. State Trooper
02. Blue Leo
03. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
04. Soul Talk
05. Poopsie's Minor
06. Skylark
07. Blues Fanfare

Personnel:

Leo Wright - alto saxophone, flute
Kenny Burrell - guitar
Gloria Coleman - organ
Frankie Dunlop - drums