Groove Holmes has always been the man, as you know, but I go back and forth on my appreciation for Jimmy McGriff. On the one hand, he plays some of the most lowdown blues the genre has ever seen; on the other, his playing can sometimes sound almost lazy, behind, like he's not quite feeling the groove enough. Here and there I'm very impressed--on an album called "Something To Listen To," there's this late '60's funk-Brazilian tune he does where he plays acoustic piano, and it is remarkable, some of the best stuff I've ever heard from him or anyone else. Yet I waver between converted and unconvinced, which leads us to this album, albeit in a roundabout way. This is the most consistent work McGriff's ever done, in opposition to my general feeling about his artistry, and with Groove Holmes also in the house, well, we know this shit is going to cook. Add to that the intimate live setting and mad scientist O'Donel Levy on guitar, and you're left with one of the finest and funkiest jazz albums ever recorded. Period.
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