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1966 · Album

Live Where The Action's At

↑ Jimmy McGriff

Recorded 1966, New Jersey · Veep · Format: Live

Jimmy McGriff's Unvarnished Sweat and Soul

Production-wise rough, but the playing is a gem—raw organ funk that doesn't need polish to burn.

By 1966, Jimmy McGriff was already a working pro with a reputation for straight-ahead soul organ playing, and Where the Action's At! captures him in his element—live, unpretentious, swinging hard. This isn't McGriff at some polished jazz room; it's McGriff in New Jersey doing what he did best, which was making people move. The album bristles with the energy of a working band that knows the groove and doesn't overthink it. The drums sound muffled, the engineering is honest about its limitations, but that roughness works. It lets the organ and the band breathe without getting between you and the music.

McGriff wasn't trying to prove anything here. He wasn't reaching for a concept or a statement. He was playing organ in a blues-funk idiom with serious pocket and feel, which was exactly what his audience wanted. The live recording catches that directness—no second takes, no studio sweetening, just the real transaction between musicians and the room. For listeners who want to hear McGriff doing what he does best, without any pretense, this is the place. It's working music by a working musician, and it holds up because the fundamentals never date.

Who's playing
Listen next
By Jimmy McGriff
Blues for Mr. Jimmy 1965
More Soul Jazz
Hustlin’ 1965
Stanley Turrentine
Recording Info
Track listing
1Where It's At4:32
2When Johnny Comes Marching Home4:00
3Up Tight5:48
4Frugal Bugle6:28
5Upper-Ground5:00
6Georgia On My Mind5:40
7Goin' Out Of My Head3:58
8Robbins Nest5:08
Musicians
Further Reading
Read more

Where next?

More by Jimmy McGriff
Blues for Mr. Jimmy 1965
I've Got a Woman 1962
One Of Mine 1963
♫
Groove Grease 1971
All 38 albums →
More Soul Jazz
Hustlin’ 1965
Stanley Turrentine
Say It Loud 1969
Lou Donaldson
Alive! 1970
Grant Green
Bad! Bossa Nova 1962
Gene Ammons
All 101 Soul Jazz artists →

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