1966 · Album
Let It Go
Recorded 1966 · Produced by Not specified in provided sources · Original Label: Blue Note Records (recorded); Impulse! Records (released)
The Impulse Shift: Turrentine Graduates
A solid mid-'60s session that showed Turrentine was ready for fresh air beyond Blue Note.
Let It Go arrived in 1967 as a deliberate pivot. Turrentine had built a substantial catalog for Blue Note, but this Impulse! release marked a move to new territory—the kind of album that doesn't announce itself loudly but registers with anyone paying attention. AllMusic reviewer Stephen Cook gave it four stars, specifically framing it as the next step for listeners who'd exhausted Turrentine's Blue Note output and wanted to hear him in a different context. That kind of endorsement suggests the album landed with some credibility, though it wasn't a commercial thunderclap or a record that dominated the conversation. It was a solid professional statement.
Musically, Turrentine worked with Shirley Scott on organ, Ron Carter on bass, and Mack Simpkins on drums—a rhythm section built for swing and capable of filling space without overcomplicating it. This was the mid-'60s Turrentine operating in his wheelhouse: a warm, direct tenor sound that didn't require much decoration. The session has the feel of musicians who knew each other's moves and could settle into grooves without lengthy explanation. There's no sense here of experimentation or departure. Instead, it's Turrentine doing what he'd done well on Blue Note but with a slightly different sonic frame and the freedom that came with a label change.
If you've moved through his Blue Note records and want to hear him continue in roughly the same vein with a fresh band, this is exactly where to land. It's not the place to start, and it's not his strongest work, but it's honest and listenable—the kind of album that earns its four stars through competence and straightforwardness rather than innovation.
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