1975 · Album
In the Pocket
Recorded 1975 · Fantasy · Arranger and Conductor: Gene Page
Gene Page's Lush Arrangements Frame Turrentine's Soul
Turrentine plays it straight and soulful while Page's orchestra swells around him like a cushion.
What makes In the Pocket distinctive is Gene Page's orchestral arrangement—full strings, horns, and rhythm section all composed and conducted to frame Turrentine's tenor saxophone in the smoothest possible light. This is not a trio date or a small-group session. Page treats each track like a ballad, wrapping Turrentine in lush, almost cinematic accompaniment that sits somewhere between soul-jazz and easy listening. Turrentine responds by playing it straight and soulful, no flash, just warm tone and steady phrasing over arrangements that never crowd him out.
By 1975, Turrentine had moved through Blue Note and CTI and landed at Fantasy, where this album became his second release for the label. The formula is simple: orchestral cushion, tenor voice on top, nothing complicated. Page's hand is everywhere—every voicing, every swell of strings is deliberate. It's the sound of someone who understood both jazz and pop orchestration, who could write for Turrentine without condescending to him.
The album works best if you come to it knowing what you want: intimate, orchestrated tenor-sax ballads. It's not a peak Turrentine record or a turning point. It's solid work in a mode he knew well by then—the saxophone as a voice in a larger, carefully controlled ensemble. Not experimental, not trying to prove anything. Just competent, pleasant, and well-arranged. It never made it to CD, which perhaps says something about how the market valued it then and now.
Who's playing
Scott Edwardsbass
Ray Parker Jr.guitar
Dean Parksguitar
David T. Walkerguitar
Melvin “Wah Wah” Watsonguitar
Stanley Turrentinetenor saxophone
Gary Colemanpercussion
Bobbye Hallcongas
Gene Pagekeyboard
Sylvester Riverskeyboard
