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| 3.324 Ft
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| 1. | Willow Weep for Me
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| 2. | Chances Are Few
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| 3. | Jumpin' Jupiter
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| 4. | Stop and
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| 5. | At Last
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| 6. | Soul Walk
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| 7. | Work Song
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| 8. | They Can't Take That Away from Me [*]
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Jazz / Soul-Jazz, Hard Bop
Recorded: May 22, 1961, Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Remastered: 2008, Rudy Van Gelder
Baby Face Willette - Organ
Ben Dixon - Drums
Grant Green - Guitar
* Alfred Lion - Producer
* Francis Wolff - Photography
* Larry Walsh - Mastering
* Michael Cuscuna - Producer
* Patrick Roques - Design
* Rudy Van Gelder - Engineer
Probably the greatest set in Baby Face Willette's all-too-slim discography, Stop and Listen matches the organist with the hugely sympathetic team of guitarist Grant Green and drummer Ben Dixon (the same trio lineup who recorded Green's debut LP, Grant's First Stand). With no saxophonist this second time around, it's just Willette and Green in the solo spotlight, and they play marvelously off of one another. As a soloist, Willette has a nimble, airy touch, and though he owes no debt to the modal style of Larry Young, he has a greater melodic imagination than many of his instrument's straight blues players. What's more, his playing is far less in-the-pocket than his inspiration, Jimmy Smith's; Willette can really make a groove percolate, whether he's soloing or adding keen rhythmic interest with his left hand (witness the throbbing slow blues of "Chances Are Few" or the marching beat of "Soul Walk"). Green is in prime form as well, in particular contributing some unbearably lovely solos to the standard "At Last." Nearly every selection is memorable, with other highlights coming from Willette's manic original "Jumpin' Jupiter," a breezy treatment of "Willow Weep for Me," and Nat Adderley's jauntily swinging "Worksong." There's nary a bit of sleepy meandering on this set of grooves; each musician is plugged in and ready to wail. With Blue Note's extraordinary stable of talent, it's a shame that Willette never led another session for the label, which makes Stop and Listen that much more essential for soul-jazz fans.
---Steve Huey, All Music Guide
Baby Face Willette
Active Decade: '60s
Born: Sep 11, 1933 in New Orleans, LA
Genre: Jazz
Styles: Soul-Jazz, Hard Bop
Highly underrated as a soul-jazz organist due in large part to a scanty discography, Baby Face Willette remains a somewhat mysterious figure, a quiet, reserved man who disappeared from the jazz scene after the first half of the '60s. Born Roosevelt Willette on September 11, 1933 (there is some dispute as to whether he was born in New Orleans or Little Rock), his parents were heavily involved in the church, and thus his music had deep roots in gospel. Studying with his pianist uncle Fred Freeman, Willette played in several gospel groups as a teenage pianist and soon branched out into R&B, which gave him the opportunity to tour the country with numerous outfits. He settled in Chicago for a time and began concentrating on jazz organ in 1958, but didn't make much headway on the scene until he moved to New York and met Blue Note mainstays like Lou Donaldson and Grant Green. He played on Donaldson's Here 'Tis and Green's Grant's First Stand in January 1961, and the same month recorded his own debut, Face to Face. A few months later, he recorded the follow-up, Stop and Listen, which is generally regarded as his best work. After that initial burst of activity, Willette went on to form his own regular trio in 1963, and moved over to the Argo label, where he recorded two sessions in 1964: Mo-Roc and Behind the 8 Ball. He had a regular engagement at a South Side Chicago lounge from 1966-1971 (approximately), but largely vanished from the jazz scene afterwards and died in obscurity.
---Steve Huey, All Music Guide |
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