Description
Stanley Turrentine – Mr Natural – 180 Gram Vinyl Record
Stanley Turrentine’s Mr. Natural is a gem of 1960s jazz that blends soul‑jazz warmth with post‑bop sophistication, and — despite being recorded on September 4, 1964 — it wasn’t released by Blue Note Records until 1980, making it something of a hidden classic in his catalog. The album features Turrentine’s rich, blues‑infused tenor saxophone at the center of a stellar ensemble, including trumpeter Lee Morgan, McCoy Tyner on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, Elvin Jones on drums, and Ray Barretto on congas for several tracks, a lineup that brings both rhythmic drive and harmonic depth to the session.
From the soulful opening groove of “Wahoo” (also known as “Stanley’s Blues”), through the tender ballad “Shirley” (written by Turrentine and dedicated to his then‑wife, organist Shirley Scott), the album strikes a balance between bluesy expressiveness and modern jazz exploration. The presence of Tyner and Jones — both associated with the classic John Coltrane Quartet — adds modal nuance and a more adventurous rhythmic feel than many soul‑jazz records of the time, while Morgan’s crisp, articulate trumpet lines bring a lively conversational element to the front‑line interplay.
The album also showcases Turrentine’s versatility: on “Tacos”, Barretto’s congas and the rhythmic interplay give the music a Latin‑tinged bounce, the standard “My Girl Is Just Enough Woman For Me” is transformed into a swinging jazz number, and even a cover of The Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love” is reimagined through the group’s soulful jazz lens.
Because it was held in the vaults for so long, Mr. Natural was long overlooked, but its eventual release revealed a richly varied set of performances that highlight Turrentine’s vocal, bluesy tone and expressive phrasing, supported by some of the era’s most exciting jazz talents. It stands as both a rewarding snapshot of Stanley Turrentine’s artistry in the mid‑1960s and a testament to the depth and breadth of the Blue Note catalog during one of jazz’s most fertile periods.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
Wahoo (a.k.a. Stanley’s Blues)
Shirley
Tacos
My Girl Is Just Enough Woman For Me
Can’t Buy Me Love
