Personnel:
Paul Bryant (org), Curtis Amy (ts), Roy Brewster (tb), Jim Hall (g), Clarence S. Jones, Jimmy Bond (b), Jimmy Miller (d)
Reference: FSRCD 611
Bar code: 8427328606110
In the late Fifties organ had earned a place with modern jazz fans, and Paul Bryant (1933-2010) was but one of the latest organists to find an audience. He had a hard-hitting, two-fisted style that exploited the registers to the limit.
In this set Bryant was blessed with the illustrious company of tenorist Curtis Amy, guitarist Jim Hall, and budding trombonist Roy Brewster. On the rhythm section, bassist Clarence S. Jonesalternating with Jimmy Bondand drummer Jimmy Miller, take care of the timing with devotion and intelligence.
This set includes The Blues Message and Burninthe two albums that launched Bryant and Amys recording careers. Tenor man Amy, a member of that masculine school of Texas-born preachers, is impressive as a featured co-leader. Hall, thoroughly in the cooking spirit of things, was high-spirited and stirring in his solos, comping and balancing the predominant organ adequately. In these tunes, mostly blues with a soul-searching message (Searchin and Still Searchin), Bryant stomps and hollers and then drifts into the sentimental, creating, at some points, moments of pure, unadulterated truth.
