THE UNDISCOVERED INDIGO SOUL

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ON THE BLUE SIDE

by Hank Crawford & Jimmy McGriff

released: 1990

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I'm shocked and disappointed to find that here in late 2004, I'm the first person to submit a review [*at Amazon.com*] for this excellent album. I bought ON THE BLUE SIDE shortly after its release and I've probably heard it well over a hundred times. This wasn't the first collaboration between HANK CRAWFORD & JIMMY McGriff -- just the best!

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I'm an inveterate whistler. I catch myself unconsciously whistling all the time, and almost always it's either 'Sunshine Of Your Love', 'Keep On Loving You', 'Bumpin' On Sunset', 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen', or 'ANY DAY NOW' from this collection. My gosh, I've been whistling 'Any Day Now' for 14 years!

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This is an exciting and soulful 4-piece band which features the Bluesy but always swinging alto sax of CRAWFORD, which dances over McGRIFF's thick washes of Hammond B-3 Organ chords - chords which suddenly and frequently transform into popping, red-hot, electrically-charged riffing! It is McGRIFF who keeps this music grooving with an addictive, stylistically Jazzy R&B mood. He's a vastly talented musician whose keyboard technique makes him a peer of other notable B-3 masters such as Jimmy Smith, Bill Doggett, and Booker T. Jones.

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Not to be overlooked, however, is the much employed Wes Montgomery-influenced guitar work of JIMMY PONDER, whose imaginative playing punctuates the undulating, snake-like rhythms with purple, pinpoint notes that both heighten and release the musical tension. Man, this is great stuffs! It gets under the skin and just COMPELS the body to move! It seems that some people don't have an aural affinity for the organ sound. That's a real puzzlement to me because I don't just HEAR the B-3, I FEEL it!

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These instrumental pieces that make up ON THE BLUE SIDE are rhythmically-structured pieces that are danceable, and yet they contain plenty of space for the exciting, improvisational interplay that Jazz fans listen for.

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ON THE BLUE SIDE may be one of my more frequently spun discs, but you know, I didn't have to share this treasure with ya. I could-a kept Hank's and 'Jimmy's Groove' thang all to myself. I could-a taken the attitude that if you don't already know, that's 'Tuff' for you! I could-a said to myself, "Stephen" (that's what I occasionally call myself), "only one person is lucky enough to listen to ON THE BLUE SIDE, and 'You're The One'!" But I couldn't act so selfishly. Instead, I brought you on board with me. I hope you appreciate this review. 'Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You'?

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~ Stephen T. McCarthy

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