Jack McDuff and Me... — Vinyl Magic

Jack McDuff gave me the most important foundation for communicating my music to others. He pointed out the elements that are universally common to us all. I owe a great deal of my success to the man we know as Brother Jack McDuff.
George Benson

it is obvious, upon listening to him, that he has deep gospel roots but, aside from that, he has absorbed some of the beauties of life, and through appreciation and understanding, evinces it esthetically in his music. He is a ferocious charging beast; he is a graceful swan on a simmering lake. He is what he wants to be.
Benny Golson, liner notes, Silk And Soul (1965)

***The Honeydripper (1961) signed by Jack***

Jack McDuff is one of those rare musicians who can segue from a contemporary jazz classic to a raucous rock and roll tune without being unfaithful to the style of either one.
pianist Billy Taylor

***Silk And Soul (1965) signed by Jack***

I spent a lot of my Navy time hanging around band rooms at various camps and the music came naturally. I was never much with the lessons, but I had a good ear. I picked up tunes easy and remembered them.
Jack McDuff liner notes Tough’Duff (1960)

***Brother Jack Meets The Boss (1962) signed by Jack***

I guess people who are jazz fans just dig the blues because that's all we perform. We play bluesy but we always break it up. We don't have any message with our music, except pat your foot and go along with what you're doing.
Jack McDuff

***The New Boss Guitar Of George Benson (1964) signed by Jack, Red Holloway***

In the early 1960s, McDuff was near the top of the list of heavy cats playing the organ, right alongside Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff...he cut a series of records for the Prestige label that were among the best organ-trio sets of the time....Jack was both a true entertainer and a true musician. He put on a show, but it was always substantial; it wasn’t just a cat hitting an endless trill with his right hand and waving to the audience with his left.
George Benson

Born in 1926 in Champaign, Illinois, Jack McDuff became one of the most accomplished jazz and soul organist. A master of the Hammond B3, Jack was a leader on over fifty albums, and he played with other jazz masters like Gene Ammons, Kenny Burrell, Jimmy Forrest and Benny Golson. McDuff started his career playing the acoustic bass and almost joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers as a bassist, but he switched to piano. As Jack explained, "It was the difference between some kind of paycheck and none at all." Jack then switched to the organ because he got a more lucrative gig at the Chicago nightclub, McKie's Lounge, and joined Willis Jackson's band. McDuff toured for a year or so with Jackson, developing his impressive chops, and recording Please Mr. Jackson (1959) and Cool Gator (1959) with Willis as the leader.

***The Dynamic Jack McDuff (1964) signed by Jack, Benny Golson, Red Holloway***

Jack started his solo career in 1960 and he was a peerless talent scout, attracting skilled sidemen and collaborators like guitar virtuosos Grant Green and Pat Martino. In 1963, a nineteen year old guitar phenom, George Benson, got his professional start as a member of Jack's classic quartet with Red Holloway on tenor sax, and Joe Dukes on drums. They would record and tour together for several years. Benson was heavily influenced by Wes Montgomery in those days and played straight ahead jazz, a far cry from the pop pablum of Leon Russell's "This Masquerade", a top 10 hit for George in 1976 and a staple of 1970s FM radio. This track was a bit of a fluke, as the rest of Breezin' is instrumental, including the title cut, penned by soul great Bobby Womack. Nevertheless, it won Benson a Grammy and was a multi-platinum record, the first jazz release to receive platinum status.

***Cookin’ Together (1964) signed by Jack, Red Holloway***

Jack had a bluesy, soulful sound and he named his band The Heatin' System, and they certainly turned the heat up with their swirling soul and blues. In the 1990s as a new generation discovered McDuff's masterly beats and funk. His albums became fertile ground for sampling and remixes from hip hop artists and DJs like Deee-Lite, Fat Boy Slim, Flava, Pete Rock, A Tribe Called Quest, and beat master extraordinaire, J. Dilla.

***Tobacco Road (1967) “Merry Christmas Jack McDuff”***

I saw Jack many times at small clubs and he always put on an entertaining show. At the old Iridium Jazz Club, when it was located near Lincoln Center in New York City, Jack was performing with a quartet, including Mark Whitfield, a young guitar gunslinger in a long line that graced McDuff's bandstand over the years. As I entered the club, I saw Jack sitting alone at the small service bar with only three or four seats. I slid over and sat down next to him. He was cordial as he signed the albums. When he saw Walk On By (1966) he smiled. 'Who's the babe?' I asked him. He laughed, "That's my wife. We didn't have an album cover, and the photographer showed up at my apartment on 116th street (in New York City). We just went outside, I sat on the rail and she walked on by." A timeless song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, it is an even more timeless album cover.

***Walk On By (1966) signed by Jack, Benny Golson, Red Holloway, Pat Martino***

Brother Jack McDuff always kept the grooves groovin', and he left a legacy of beats and recordings that still resonate with musicians and music lovers across many generations.