Richard "Groove" Holmes - Blues All Day Long (1988)

Blues All Day Long is an example of an artist excelling by sticking with what he does best. Richard "Groove" Holmes was a master of the grittiest of blues and the most romantic of ballads -- two of the things that make the album the soul-jazz triumph it is. Whether savoring the richness of the blues on "Groove's Groove" (not to be confused with the gem he recorded on 1965's Soul Message) and "Slo Blooze," displaying his mastery of ballads on "These Foolish Things," or getting unapologetically funky on Benny Golson's "Killer Joe," the spirited Jimmy Smith disciple makes Blues a most welcome addition to his catalogue. Holmes has highly enthusiastic support in big-toned tenor titan Houston Person, trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater, guitarist Jimmy Ponder, drummer Cecil Brooks III, and percussionist Ralph Dorsey, all of whom seem quite inspired by the South Jersey native's down-home soulfulness.~Alex Henderson