Jack McDuff

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"Brother" Jack McDuff (September 17, 1926 – January 23, 2001) was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader who was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio.

Career

Born Eugene McDuffy in Champaign, Illinois, McDuff began playing bass, appearing in Joe Farrell's group. Encouraged by Willis Jackson in whose band he also played bass in the late 50s, McDuff moved to the organ and began to attract the attention of Prestige Records while still with Jackson's group. McDuff soon became a bandleader, leading groups featuring a young George Benson, Red Holloway on saxophone and Joe Dukes on drums.

McDuff recorded many classic albums on Prestige including his debut solo Brother Jack in 1960, The Honeydripper (1961), with tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest and guitarist Grant Green, and Brother Jack Meets The Boss (1962), featuring Gene Ammons, and Screamin’ (1962).

After his tenure at Prestige, McDuff joined the Atlantic Records label for a brief period and then in the 70s recorded for Blue Note. To Seek a New Home (1970) was recorded in England with a line-up featuring blues shouter Jimmy Witherspoon and some of Britain's top jazz musicians of the day, including Terry Smith on guitar and Dick Morrissey on tenor sax.

The decreasing interest in jazz and blues during the late 70s and 1980s meant that many jazz musicians went through a lean time and it wasn't until the late 1980s, with The Re-Entry, recorded for the Muse label in 1988, that McDuff once again began a successful period of recordings, initially for Muse, then on the Concord Jazz label from 1991. George Benson appeared on his mentor’s 1992 Colour Me Blue album.

Despite health problems, McDuff continued working and recording throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and toured Japan with Atsuko Hashimoto in 2000. "Captain" Jack McDuff, as he later became known, died of heart failure at the age of 74 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Discography

As leader

• Brother Jack (Prestige, 1960)
• Tough 'Duff (Prestige, 1960)
• The Honeydripper (Prestige, 1961)
• Goodnight, It's Time to Go (Prestige, 1961)
• On With It! (Prestige, 1961 [1971])
• Brother Jack Meets the Boss (Prestige, 1962) - with Gene Ammons
• Screamin' (Prestige, 1962)
• Somethin' Slick! (Prestige, 1963)
• Crash! (Prestige 1963) - with Kenny Burrell
• Brother Jack McDuff Live! (Prestige, 1963)
• Brother Jack at the Jazz Workshop Live! (Prestige, 1963)
• Prelude (Prestige, 1963)
• Cookin' Together (Prestige, 1964) - with Red Holloway
• The Dynamic Jack McDuff (Prestige, 1964)
• The Concert McDuff (Prestige, 1964)
• Silk and Soul (Prestige, 1964-65)
• Hot Barbeque (Prestige, 1965)
• Walk On By (Prestige, 1966)
• Hallelujah Time! (Prestige, 1963-66)
• The Midnight Sun (Prestige, 1963-66)
• Soul Circle (Prestige, 1964-66 [1968])
• I Got a Woman (Prestige, 1964-66 [1969])
• Steppin' Out (Prestige 1961-66 [1969])
• A Change Is Gonna Come (Atlantic, 1966)
• Tobacco Road (Atlantic, 1966)
• Do It Now! (Atlantic, 1966)
• Double Barrelled Soul (Atlantic, 1967)
• The Natural Thing (Cadet, 1968)
• Getting Our Thing Together (Cadet, 1968)
• Gin and Orange (Cadet, 1969)
• Down Home Style (Blue Note, 1969)
• Moon Rappin' (Blue Note, 1969)
• To Seek a New Home (Blue Note 1970)
• Who Knows What Tomorrow's Gonna Bring? (Blue Note, 1970)
• The Heatin' System (Cadet, 1971)
• Check This Out (Cadet, 1972)
• The Fourth Dimension (Cadet, 1973-74)
• Magnetic Feel (Cadet, 1975)
• Sophisticated Funk (Chess, 1976)
• Kisses (Sugar Hill 1982)
• The Re-Entry (32 Jazz 1988)
• Another Real Good'un (Muse 1989)
• Color Me Blue (Concord Jazz 1992)
• Hot Barbeque: Live (BGP 1993)
• Write On, Capt'n (Concord Jazz 1993)
• Live (Prestige 1994)
• The Heatin' System (Concord Jazz 1994)
• Hot BBQ (BGP 1995)
• That's The Way I Feel About It (Concord Jazz 1996)
• Jack-Pot (Red 1997)
• Bringin It Home (Concord Jazz 1999)
• Brotherly Love (Concord Jazz 2001)

Compilations

• Brother Jack McDuff Plays for Beautiful People (Prestige, 1960-63 [1968])

As sideman

With Gene Ammons

• Twisting the Jug (Prestige, 1961) - with Joe Newman
• Soul Summit (Prestige, 1962) - with Sonny Stitt
• Soul Summit Vol. 2 (Prestige, 1961-62)

With George Benson

• The New Boss Guitar of George Benson (Prestige, 1964)

With Kenny Burrell

• Bluesin' Around (Columbia, 1962 [1983])

With Joey DeFrancesco

• It's About Time (Concord Jazz, 1996)

With Gene Harris

• (Down Home) Blues (Concord Jazz, 1996)

With Grant Green

• Grantstand (Blue Note, 1961)

With Willis Jackson

• Please Mr. Jackson (Prestige, 1959)
• Cool "Gator" (Prestige, 1959-60)
• Blue Gator (Prestige, 1959-60)
• Cookin' Sherry (Prestige, 1959-60)
• Together Again! (Prestige, 1959-60 [1965])
• Together Again, Again (Prestige, 1959-61 [1966])

With Roland Kirk

• Kirk's Work (Prestige 1961)

With David "Fathead" Newman

• Double Barrelled Soul (Atlantic, 1968)

With Mike Pachelli

• Meeting Point (Fullblast, 1999)

With Sonny Stitt

• Stitt Meets Brother Jack (Prestige, 1962)

With Winston Walls

• Boss of the B3 (Schoolkids Records, 1993)

With Jimmy Witherspoon

• The Blues is Now (Verve, 1967)

External links

• Jack McDuff at Allmusic
• Jack McDuff discography at Jazzlists
• Obituary

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