High quality material, standard Stanley Turrentine sound and groove. Easy Walker is a high quality soul jazz recording from 1966 on (where else?) Blue Note, produced by Rudy van Gelder, top musicians. It’s interesting how nonchalant and self-aware the captured material is handled, at a time when new and higher cliffs were being conquered, especially from the free jazz milieu. ‚We weren’t trying to prove anything here. We just wanted to get down to basics, and enjoy ourselves.‘

Mr. Turrentine’s combo simply had fun recording an understated session with best-in-class musicians. This is especially noticeable on McCoy Tyner, who shows his classic jazz-grooving, as always percolating side – so very different from recordings with Coltrane, yet unmistakable.

Also noteworthy is what Mr. Turrentine says about bassist Bob Cranshaw: ‚If ten bassists were playing simultaneously, I’d have no trouble picking out Bob immediately.‘ A thoroughly wonderful record.

Stefan Mohr