Jack McDuff

"Brother" Jack McDuff (September 17, 1926 – January 23, 2001) was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio.

Career

Born Eugene McDuffy in Champaign, Illinois, McDuff began playing bass, appearing in Joe Farrell's group.^[1] Encouraged by Willis Jackson in whose band he also played bass in the late 50s, McDuff moved to the organ and began to attract the attention of Prestige Records while still with Jackson's group. McDuff soon became a bandleader, leading groups featuring a young George Benson,^[2] Red Holloway on saxophone and Joe Dukes on drums.

McDuff recorded many classic albums on Prestige including his debut solo Brother Jack in 1960, The Honeydripper (1961), with tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest and guitarist Grant Green,^[2] and Brother Jack Meets The Boss (1962), featuring Gene Ammons, and Screamin’ (1962).

After his tenure at Prestige, McDuff joined the Atlantic Records label^[1] for a brief period and then in the 70s recorded for Blue Note. To Seek a New Home (1970) was recorded in England with a line-up featuring blues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon and some of Britain's top jazz musicians of the day, including Terry Smith on guitar and Dick Morrissey on tenor sax.

The decreasing interest in jazz and blues during the late 70s and 1980s meant that many jazz musicians went through a lean time and it wasn't until the late 1980s, with The Re-Entry, recorded for the Muse label in 1988, that McDuff once again began a successful period of recordings, initially for Muse, then on the Concord Jazz label from 1991.^[1] George Benson appeared on his mentor’s 1992 Colour Me Blue album.

Despite health problems, McDuff continued working and recording throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and toured Japan with Atsuko Hashimoto in 2000. "Captain" Jack McDuff, as he later became known, died of heart failure at the age of 74 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Discography

As leader

• Jack McDuff Plays for Beautiful People (Prestige 1960)
• Rock Candy (Prestige 1960)
• Brother Jack (Prestige 1960)
• Tough 'Duff (Original Jazz 1960)
• The Honeydripper (Original Jazz 1961)
• Goodnight, It's Time to Go (Prestige 1961)
• Steppin' Out (Prestige 1961)
• Sanctified (Prestige 1961)
• On With It (Prestige 1961)
• Mellow Gravy (Prestige 1962)
• Screamin' (Original Jazz 1962)
• Brother Jack Live! at the Jazz Workshop (Prestige 1963)
• Brother Jack McDuff Live! (Prestige 1963)
• Crash! by Jack McDuff & Kenny Burrell (Prestige 1963)
• Hallelujah Time! (Prestige 1963)
• The Midnight Sun (Prestige 1963)
• Somethin' Slick (Prestige 1963)
• Dynamic! (Prestige 1964)
• The Concert McDuff Recorded Live! (Prestige 1964)
• Silken Soul (Prestige 1964)
• I Got A Woman (Prestige 1964)
• Prelude (Prestige 1964)
• Soul Circle (Prestige 1964)
• Hot Barbeque (Prestige 1965)
• Walk On By (Prestige 1966)
• A Change Is Gonna Come (Atlantic 1966)
• Tobacco Road (Atlantic 1966)
• Do It Now! (Atlantic 1966)
• Getting Our Thing Together (Cadet 1968)
• The Natural Thing (MCA 1968)
• Double Barrelled Soul (Atlantic 1968)
• Gin And Orange (Cadet 1969)
• Down Home Style (Blue Note 1969)
• Moon Rappin' (Blue Note 1969)
• To Seek a New Home (Blue Note 1970)
• Who Knows What Tomorrow's Gonna Bring? (Blue Note 1970)
• Check This Out (Cadet 1972)
• The Heatin' System (Cadet 1972)
• The Fourth Dimension (Cadet 1974)
• Magnetic Feel (Cadet 1975)
• Sophisticated Funk (MCA 1976)
• Kisses (Sugar Hill 1982)
• The Re-Entry (32 Jazz 1988)
• Another Real Good'un (Muse 1989)
• Color Me Blue (Concord Jazz 1992)
• Hot Barbeque: Live (BGP 1993)
• Write On, Capt'n (Concord Jazz 1993)
• Live (Prestige 1994)
• The Heatin' System (Concord Jazz 1994)
• Hot BBQ (BGP 1995)
• That's The Way I Feel About It (Concord Jazz 1996)
• Jack-Pot (Red 1997)
• Bringin It Home (Concord Jazz 1999)
• Brotherly Love (Concord Jazz 2001)

As sideman

• Kirk's Work by Roland Kirk (Prestige 1961)
• Grantstand by Grant Green (Blue Note 1961)
• Brother Jack Meets the Boss by Jack McDuff & Gene Ammons (Prestige 1962)
• The New Boss Guitar of George Benson With The Brother Jack McDuff Quartet by George Benson (Prestige 1964)
• The Blues is Now by Jimmy Witherspoon & Jack McDuff (Verve, 1967)
• Double Barrelled Soul by "Brother" Jack McDuff & David "Fathead" Newman (Atlantic 1968)
• Boss of the B3 by Winston Walls (Schoolkids Records 1993)
• It's About Time by Jack McDuff & Joey DeFrancesco (Concord Jazz 1996)
• (Down Home) Blues by Gene Harris & Jack McDuff (Concord Jazz 1996)

References

External links

• Jack McDuff at Allmusic
• Jack McDuff discography at Organ, Guitar, Drums
• Obituary