[SACD-R][OF] Tommy Turrentine - Tommy Turrentine (Audio Fidelity) - 1960/2003 (Jazz)

I first bought this album on vinyl when still a teenager. Now (40 years later) it’s already a CD reissue and cutout…what a thankless world, this world of jazz. Buy this CD before it’s gone! It’s an East Coast jazz classic, featuring, in addition to the Turrentine brothers, Horace Parlan, Julian Priester & Max Roach. This album is one of the reasons why I became a jazz musician. It exemplifies the best of the East Coast school of classic bop. It is melodic, soulful, funky, boppish, & swings hard. There’s no pretense here, just unadulterated jazz. A top notch album that somehow was never discovered.

At Home Entertainment 2003 show, Audio Fidelity released their 2 newest SACDs. “Broken Hearted Blues” by Lightnin’ Hopkins (Audio Fidelity AFZ 010) is a Hybrid Mono SACD. It features 21 blues classics recorded on the Sittin In & Jax labels during the period of 1950 – 1952.

The 2nd release is entitled “Tommy Turrentine” (Audio Fidelity AFZ 007) & features Tommy Turrentine with the Max Roach Quintet & Tommy’s brother Stanley Turrentine guest starring on Tenor Sax. This Hybrid Stereo SACD features 7 tracks that were recorded on January 19, 1960 at Capitol Studios in New York City.

According to Marshall Blonstein, the head man at Audio Fidelity, there has been a lot of interest in the Tommy Turrentine SACD & it was a good seller during the HE 2003 show. When I auditioned the album over the headphones in the Elusive Disc booth, & later when I brought it home, I found that the early interest in this album is very warranted. It has excellent sonics, detail, air & stereo separation. Jazz SACD fans will want to own this new release, no question about it.

Audio Fidelity recordings mastered by Steve Hoffman.

Audaud review:
Recorded just 44 years ago, this session featured the older brother of Stanley Turrentine, who played in the bands of Count Basie, Benny Carter, Dizzy Gillespie & Earl Bostic. The other sextet members were no slouches: Julian Priester on trombone, Horace Parlan on piano, Bob Boswell on bass & the great Max Roach on drums. The general groove here is relaxed & unpretentious writing & playing. The sound of Parlan’s piano is smooth & natural while remaining well-balanced with the 3 lead horns – in spite of their strongly forward sound. Coming from early in the stereo era, the “This is in Stereo Dummy” mix places all the horns on the left channel & the piano & drums on the right; I was wishing I still had my old Apt-Holman preamp with its left/right mixing control. The SACD brings out all the details in the music as well as cranking up the sonic impact to direct-disc levels.6w
– John Henry