''Straight Ahead'' is an album by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

Stanley Turrentine Stanley William Turrentine (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. He began his career playing R&B for Earl Bostic and later soul jazz recording for the Blue Note label from 1960, touched on jazz fusion dur ...

, his first recording for the

Blue Note In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical co ...

label since '' Another Story'' in 1969, featuring four performances by Turrentine with Jimmy Smith,

George Benson George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist. A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded nu ...

and Jimmy Madison, and two tracks with

Les McCann Leslie Coleman McCann (born September 23, 1935) is an American jazz pianist and vocalist.Feather, Leonard, and Ira Gitler (2007), ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz'', p. 448. Oxford University Press. Early life Les McCann was born in ...

, Jimmy Ponder, Peter Brown, and Gerrick King.

Reception

The

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

review awarded the album 3 stars and states "Great combination of musicians as on earlier cookers, but time has passed — it does not come off. Pleasant enough though, but lacks high spots".Erlewine, M.

Allmusic Review AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

accessed January 12, 2010.

Track listing

:''All compositions by Stanley Turrentine except as indicated'' # "Plum" (George Benson) - 6:09 # "A Child Is Born" (

Thad Jones Thaddeus Joseph Jones (March 28, 1923 – August 20, 1986) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader who has been called "one of the all-time greatest jazz trumpet soloists". Biography Thad Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan, U ...

) - 8:03 # "Other Side of Time" - 5:25 # "Straight Ahead" - 6:25 # "The Longer You Wait" (Les McCann,

Jon Hendricks John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and rep ...

) - 8:58 # "Ah Rio" (Ron Carter) - 4:54 :*Recorded at Power Play Studios, Long Island City, NY on November 24, 1984 (tracks 5 & 6) and Sigma Sound Studios, NYC on December 7, 1984 (tracks 1-4).

Personnel

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

* Jimmy Smith - organ (tracks 1, 2, 4 & 6) *

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

(tracks 1, 2, 4 & 6) *

- bass (tracks 1, 2, 4 & 6) *Jimmy Madison -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(tracks 1, 2, 4 & 6) *

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

(tracks 3 & 5) * Jimmy Ponder -

(tracks 3 & 5) *Peter Brown -

electric bass The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck The ...

(tracks 3 & 5) * Gerrick King drums (tracks 3 & 5)

References

{{Authority control 1985 albums Stanley Turrentine albums Blue Note Records albums