Description
Stanley Turrentine – Look Out! – 180 Gram Vinyl Record
Look Out! introduced Stanley Turrentine as a Blue Note leader in 1960, shortly after his first sideman sessions for the label, bringing his tenor saxophone together with pianist Horace Parlan, bassist George Tucker and drummer Al Harewood. The quartet gives Turrentine a direct setting for a six-track program that includes three of his own compositions, a Parlan piece, a Clifford Brown tune and a ballad by Robert Farnon. His blues-centered tenor voice is the central attraction, supported by a rhythm section with a clear musical identity of its own. This stereo Blue Note Classic Vinyl edition presents the original album on a single 180 gram record, using Kevin Gray’s all-analog mastering from the original master tapes.
The session followed Turrentine’s appearances with organist Jimmy Smith on Midnight Special and Back at the Chicken Shack. Those recordings had given Blue Note a strong introduction to his soulful playing, and Alfred Lion brought him back to Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in June 1960 for this leader date. The change to a piano-based quartet makes the setting especially useful for hearing Turrentine’s tenor directly. Parlan’s piano brings its own rhythmic and harmonic personality, while Tucker and Harewood help keep the group grounded. The four-player configuration leaves space around the saxophone, making the leader’s tone and phrasing clear without requiring a second horn to define the frontline.
Look Out opens the first side and places one of Turrentine’s own tunes at the beginning of the program. Journey into Melody follows with a contrasting ballad setting, before Parlan’s Return Engagement completes the side. That sequence gives the listener three different sources of material and three ways to hear the quartet interact. The title composition establishes the leader’s writing, the ballad draws attention toward melody and tone, and the pianist’s contribution gives another member of the group a role in shaping the repertoire. The side’s variety comes from those specific musical choices, while the consistent personnel keep the performances connected. Turrentine remains the central voice across each change of setting.
The second side pairs Turrentine’s Little Sheri and Minor Chant with Clifford Brown’s Tiny Capers. Including Brown’s composition brings material from another important modern-jazz writer into the session, while the two originals maintain the leader’s presence within the album’s design. The quartet can approach those pieces with the same underlying strengths heard on the first side: a distinctive tenor sound, a piano voice with its own character and a rhythm section capable of supporting a clear swing. Across all six selections, the program gives Turrentine room to show both the direct appeal of his blues-based phrasing and the melodic control required by contrasting compositions. The album ends with Minor Chant.
Look Out! is a useful starting point for listeners exploring Turrentine’s Blue Note leader recordings, particularly those drawn to the warm, expressive tenor sound that also made his work with Jimmy Smith memorable. Parlan, Tucker and Harewood are substantial contributors to the album’s character, and the piano quartet setting makes their interaction easy to follow. This Classic Vinyl reissue preserves the original six-track LP program, divided evenly between the two sides. Kevin Gray’s mastering from the original tapes is paired with 180 gram vinyl pressed at Optimal. The result is a concentrated introduction to Turrentine as a leader, with blues feeling, standards-based interpretation and original writing all represented within one small-group session.
Brand new, never played and still sealed in the factory plastic
Track Listing
A1. Look Out
A2. Journey into Melody
A3. Return Engagement
B1. Little Sheri
B2. Tiny Capers
B3. Minor Chant
