McDuff's Atlantic Debut: Gospel Meets Groove
Tempo and texture shifts keep this record continually interesting, from jazz to gospel with side trips into blues.
When Brother Jack McDuff signed with Atlantic Records and cut A Change Is Gonna Come (1966), he arrived as a fully formed organist with a gift for mixing idioms. AllMusic reviewer Bruce Eder immediately recognized what McDuff was doing — threading together jazz phrasing, gospel warmth, and blues feeling on the same record without letting any one impulse dominate. The album wasn't a sharp departure from his earlier work, but it had a polish and purposefulness that marked this as a statement of where he stood at that moment in his career.
The band McDuff assembled was built for flexibility. Arthur Clarke and George Coleman handle tenor duties with different temperatures; Danny Turner adds alto color; Buddy Lucas brings a brassy baritone sax sound that tilts the ensemble toward R&B earthiness. Bernard Purdie on drums gives everything a propulsive, almost swaggering pocket that feels like it could swing a big room or a small club with equal ease. Johnny Grimes and Harold Johnson on trumpet and Richard Harris on trombone round out a horn section that knows how to push without overshadowing the organ — which is where the real action lives.
The seven-minute blues epic Eder singled out is the record's anchor, but the real win here is consistency. McDuff doesn't waste a track. He's playing soul-jazz that actually sounds soulful rather than calculated, and for a debut on a major label, that's worth more than it might sound. This is a solid, swinging record that works as pure listening and proves why he mattered to the organists who came after him.
Who's playing
James Tyrellbass
James Oliverguitar
Cornell Dupreeguitar
Arthur Clarketenor saxophone
Buddy Lucasbaritone saxophone
George Colemantenor saxophone
Danny Turneralto saxophone
Johnny Grimestrumpet
Harold Johnsontrumpet
Richard Harristrombone
Bernard “Pretty” Purdiedrums
Joe Dukesdrums
Warren Smithpercussion
