These nine ballads were recorded by
Stanley Turrentine between 1962 and 1969. Apart from being a genuinely wonderful set of romantic tunes, Music for Lovers showcases a soft side of the great tenor's playing.
Turrentine is one of the quintessential soul-jazz saxophonists. His Blue Note recordings from the 1960s with
Shirley Scott are generally the works cited, but there is so much other material on offer that a small collection like this is welcome. A pair of ballads with
Scott on organ are here, representing that darker groove aspect, but so are tunes with pianists like
Sonny Clark,
McCoy Tyner,
Herbie Hancock,
Horace Parlan, and
Cedar Walton. There are two cuts with guitarist
Kenny Burrell in a front-line role, and there are the trumpeters who
Turrentine loved to work with like brother
Tommy and
Blue Mitchell, as well as rhythm sections that feature drummers like
Mickey Roker,
Al Harewood, and even
Candy Finch. Bassists like
Buster Williams,
Bob Cranshaw,
Sam Jones,
Earl May, and
George Tucker also appear here. These are gorgeous tunes, beautifully selected and sequenced -- not a bad thing on a budget compilation amassed for Valentine's Day. The finest moments here are the opening read of
Rodgers & Hart's "Little Girl Blue," where
Turrentine works around the melody until it's been set by
Burrell and
Clark and then takes his solo directly from it. Then there is the deeply intimate read of
Burt Bacharach's "What the World Needs Now Is Love," where
Tyner and
Turrentine achieve a near symbiotic interplay -- and hearing the great pianist work his sleight of hand with
blues phrasing on a
pop tune like this one, as the saxophonist blows in the groove, is something to behold. This is a worthy pop for your buck even if you already have everything by
Stanley Turrentine. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
