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| 3.726 Ft
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| 1. | Secret Love
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| 2. | When My Dreamboat Comes Home
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| 3. | She's My Love
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| 4. | After Hours
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| 5. | What Will I Tell My Heart
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| 6. | Canto De Ossano
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| 7. | Sunny
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| 8. | Girl Talk
instrumental
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| 9. | Ode To Billy Joe
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| 10. | Sometimes I'm Happy
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| 11. | Soul Grabber
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| 12. | Rhode Island Red
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| 13. | Alfie
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| 14. | I Dig Rock And Roll Music
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| 15. | These Blues Are Made For Walking
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Jazz
Soul-Jazz
Hard Bop
Mainstream Jazz
Ballads
Recorded: Mar 26, 1963-Oct 25, 1967, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Willis Jackson; Wilbur "Dud" Bascomb, Frank Robinson, Heywood Henry, Sammy Lowe, Lawrence Wright, Wally Richardson, Bob Bushnell, Lloyd Davis, Joe Hadrick, Bill Jones , Carl Wilson
Willis "Gator Tail" Jackson's meat-and-potatoes tenor saxophone moved easily from the blues and R&B on which he initially made his reputation through straight-ahead grooves, soul jazz, and blue ballads, and up to bossas, boogaloos, and covers of Sixties pop hits. After Hours joins two Prestige LPs, Loose. . ., from 1963, and Soul Grabber, made in 1967. On the earlier session Jackson (1932-1987) fronts a crackling seven-piece band, while on its companion he leads his working quintet of the period. Jackson's wide-ranging taste in material is unified by his expressive, big-toned tenor, although on the ballad "Alfie" he plays the custom-made gator horn, which sounds like a cross between soprano sax and oboe. Whatever the tune, be it a standard like "Sometimes I'm Happy" (wherein "Gator" honors the great tenorist Lester Young), the extended blues-with-a-backbeat that is "After Hours," the Junior Walker-esque "Soul Grabber," or even Peter, Paul & Mary's 1967 pop hit "I Dig Rock and Roll Music," Jackson and company never strike a false note.
Like Arnett Cobb, Willis "Gator" Jackson was a hard-blowing tenor saxophonist who had no problem making the transition from the honker school of the '40s and early '50s to the soul-jazz and organ combos of the late '50s and '60s. The '60s, in fact, were an extremely productive time for Jackson, who recorded for Prestige throughout that decade and got into the studio often. A 79-minute CD that Fantasy assembled in 2004, After Hours offers two of Jackson's '60s LPs back to back: 1963's Loose and 1967's Soul Grabber (both of which employ Carl Wilson on organ and underscore Jackson's fondness for the Hammond B-3). While Soul Grabber is heard in its entirety, one of the songs from Loose ("Y'all") was omitted due to space limitations. During the '60s, Jackson wasn't afraid to look in a variety of places for material -- his repertoire ranged from original compositions to Tin Pan Alley to Burt Bacharach/Hal David, Bobby Vinton and Motown. Jackson seemed to realize that worthwhile popular music was worthwhile music regardless of the source, and on After Hours, Gator finds the jazz potential in everything from "Secret Love" and "Sometimes I'm Happy" to Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe," Bobby Hebb's "Sunny" and Peter, Paul & Mary's "I Dig Rock and Roll Music." Jackson's tenor dominates the album, but on Bacharach/David's "Alfie," the saxman plays a custom-made instrument he named the "gator horn" (which he described as "somewhere between an alto sax, a soprano sax and a French horn"). Parts of this CD were obviously designed to reach soul and rock fans, but thankfully, Gator knew how to make some commercial moves without sacrificing his skills as an improviser. While After Hours falls short of essential, this is a solid, pleasing disc that Jackson's hardcore fans will enjoy.
---Alex Henderson, AMG
Willis "Gator" Jackson
Active Decades: '40s, '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s
Born: Apr 25, 1932 in Miami, FL
Died: Oct 25, 1987 in New York, NY
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Ballads, Hard Bop, Jump Blues, R&B, Soul-Jazz, Swing
An exciting tenor saxophonist whose honking and squeals (although influenced by Illinois Jacquet) were quite distinctive, Willis Jackson was also a strong improviser who sounded perfectly at home with organ groups. He played locally in Florida early on, until joining Cootie Williams (on and off during 1948-1955). His two-sided honking feature "Gator Tail" with "Cootie" (which earned Williams a lifelong nickname) was a hit in 1948, and he started recording as a leader in 1950. Jackson was married to singer Ruth Brown for eight years, and often appeared on her recordings during this era. His extensive series of Prestige recordings (1959-1964) made him a big attraction on the organ circuit. Although generally overlooked by critics, Willis Jackson continued working steadily in the 1970s and '80s. In 1977, he recorded one of the finest albums of his career for Muse, Bar Wars.
---Scott Yanow, All Music Guide |
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