Larry Young Trio – Testyfying + Young Blues + Groove Street + Forrest Fire – 2CD

Larry Young (1940-1979) started off in the early 60s as a soul-jazz organist, and the three albums included on this 2-CD set—”Testifying,” “Young Blues,” and “Street Groove”, are his first as a leader.
Recorded in 1960 and 1962 for the New Jazz/Prestige label, they document a period when the 20 year old organist was starting to establish a name for himself in the jazz scene. On a set of warmly swinging, thoroughly grooving performances, Young is in an astounding, persuasively blues-tinged mood, while guitarist Thornel Schwartz and drummer Jimmie Smith are the personification of steady and sympathetic support, consistently augmented with the addition of bassist Wendell Marshall in “Young Blues”. Tenor saxophonist Joe Holiday can be heard on two of the tunes of “Testifying”, while Bill Leslie sets the right mood for “Groove Street.”
As a bonus, this set includes five tracks from “Forrest Fire”, another 1960 record date with Young and his trio act as backing for the solid blowing of the full-bodied tenor of Jimmy Forrest. These sessions, relaxed and unpretentious, are the epitome of swing-rooted, soulful jazz.

Track Listing:

CD 1
1. Testifying - 9:52   2. When I Grow Too Old to Dream (Romberg-Hammerstein II) - 5:15   3. Exercise for Chihuahuas (Joe Holiday) - 7:35   4. Falling In Love with Love (Rodgers-Hart) - 5:04   5. Some Thorny Blues - 6:20   6. Wee Dot (J.J. Johnson) - 7:04   7. Flamingo (Grouya-Anderson) - 5:23   8. Young Blues - 6:25   9. A Midnight Angel (Morris Bailey) - 2:22   10. Little White Lies (Walter Donaldson) - 4:12   11. Minor Dream (Ray Draper) - 5:01   12. Something New, Something Blue - 7:23   13. Nica’s Dream (Horace Silver) - 6:38

CD 2 
1. African Blues - 4:50   2. Groove Street - 4:54   3. I Found a New Baby (Palmer-Williams) - 5:25   4. Sweet Lorraine (Burwell-Parish) - 9:25   5. Gettin’ Into It - 14:24   6. Talkin’ ‘Bout J.C. - 5:56   7. Remember (Irving Berlin) - 5:27   8. Dexter’s Deck (Dexter Gordon) - 6:37   9. Jim’s Jams (Jimmy Forrest) - 8:55   10. Bags’ Groove (Milt Jackson) - 8:26   11. Help! (Doug Watkins) - 4:50

Sources:
CD 1 - Tracks #1-7, from the album “Testifying” (New Jazz 8249)
CD 1 - Tracks #8-13, and CD 2 track #1 from the album “Young Blues” (New Jazz 8264)
CD 2 - Tracks #2-6, from the album “Groove Street” (Prestige 7237)
CD 2 - Tracks #7-11, from the album “Jimmy Forrest – Forrest Fire” (New Jazz 8250)

Personnel on "Testifying":
Joe Holiday  (tenor sax on #3 & 7) , Larry Young (organ) , Thornel Schwartz , (guitar) , Jimmie Smith (drums).
Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on August 2, 1960

Personnel on "Young Blues":
Larry Young (organ) , Thornel Schwartz (guitar) , Wendell Marshall , (bass) , Jimmie Smith (drums)
Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on September 30, 1960

Personnel on "Groove Street":
Bill Leslie (tenor sax) , Larry Young (organ) , Thornel Schwartz (guitar) , Jimmie Smith (drums)
Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on February 27, 1962

Personnel on "Forrest Fire":
Jimmy Forrest (tenor sax) , Larry Young (organ) , Thornel Schwartz (guitar) , Jimmie Smith (drums) , unknown (congas).
Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on August 9, 1960

Original recordings supervised by Esmond Edwards
Recording engineer: Rudy Van Gelder
Design & photography: Esmond Edwards / Don Schlitten
This CD release produced by Jordi Pujol