Plas Johnson & Red Holloway • Keep That Groove Going

 

Plas Johnson's playing has a place on almost every American's mental hard drive, even if you don't know his name (he was the piccolo player on Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin," the tenor sax on The Pink Panther and The Odd Couple themes, etc.). Red Holloway has a higher profile in the jazz world, but like Johnson, chose to confine himself mostly to Los Angeles. Together, in their seventies, they journeyed out to Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey to match wits on another Bob Porter-produced soul-jazz cooker, effortlessly suggesting tenor battles of the past. They are a most compatible duo, with Johnson displaying a slightly lighter, more overt rhythm & blues tinge, and their sure-footed note selection makes them a pleasure to hear. The battle royal reaches a peak on Arnett Cobb's fortuitously titled "Go Red Go," fading on one ecstatic, repeated, unison, A flat note. There are also solo ballad tracks for each player, where Holloway reaches deep down into warm, majestic Illinois Jacquet/Gene Ammons territory in "Serenade in Blue" and Johnson opens up his lower-register timbre on "Cry Me a River." The rhythm section virtually defines this idiom, with down-home veterans like guitarist Melvin Sparks (who offers killer obbligatos in "Pass the Gravy"), Hammond organist Gene Ludwig, and drummer Kenny Washington keeping the pot boiling. Also, the 24-bit sound that Van Gelder was getting in 2001 projects everything with an oomph and clarity that is astounding even for this master engineer.

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La forma de tocar de Plas Johnson ocupa un lugar en el disco duro mental de casi todos los estadounidenses, aunque no se conozca su nombre (fue el flautín de "Rockin' Robin" de Bobby Day, el saxo tenor de los temas de La Pantera Rosa y La extraña pareja, etc.). Red Holloway tiene un perfil más alto en el mundo del jazz, pero al igual que Johnson, optó por limitarse principalmente a Los Ángeles. Juntos, a sus setenta años, viajaron al estudio de Rudy Van Gelder en Nueva Jersey para coincidir en otra cocina de soul-jazz producida por Bob Porter, sugiriendo sin esfuerzo las batallas de tenores del pasado. Son un dúo muy compatible, con Johnson mostrando un tinte ligeramente más ligero y más evidente de rhythm & blues, y su segura selección de notas hace que sea un placer escucharlos. La batalla real alcanza su punto álgido en "Go Red Go", de Arnett Cobb, titulada fortuitamente, y que se desvanece con una nota de La bemol, repetida y extática. También hay temas de baladas en solitario para cada intérprete, en los que Holloway se adentra en el cálido y majestuoso territorio de Illinois Jacquet/Gene Ammons en "Serenade in Blue" y Johnson abre su timbre de registro inferior en "Cry Me a River". La sección rítmica prácticamente define este lenguaje, con veteranos como el guitarrista Melvin Sparks (que ofrece obbligatos asesinos en "Pass the Gravy"), el organista Hammond Gene Ludwig y el baterista Kenny Washington manteniendo la olla en ebullición. Además, el sonido de 24 bits que Van Gelder conseguía en 2001 lo proyecta todo con una oomph y una claridad que resulta asombrosa incluso para este maestro de la ingeniería.

Track listing
"Keep That Groove Going!" (Red Holloway) – 6:07
"Stuffy" (Coleman Hawkins) – 4:13
"Serenade in Blue" (Harry Warren, Mack Gordon) – 6:49
"Go Red Go" (Arnett Cobb) – 4:13
"Bretheren!" (Holloway) – 7:24
"Pass the Gravy" (Plas Johnson) – 8:42
"Jammin' for Mr. Lee" (Johnson) – 6:35
"Cry Me a River" (Arthur Hamilton) – 5:04
"Dream a Little Dream of Me" (Fabian Andre, Wilbur Schwandt, Gus Kahn) – 6:15


Credits:
Drums – Kenny Washington
Guitar – Melvin Sparks (tracks: 1 to 8)
Organ – Gene Ludwig
Recorded By, Mixed By, Edited By, Mastered By – Rudy Van Gelder
Tenor Saxophone – Plas Johnson (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 9), Red Holloway (tracks: 1 to 7, 9)

Recording Date April 24, 2001 at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Duration 55:22
label Milestone

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