John Wright Trio: South Side Soul [CONCORD JAZZ]

Why you'll love it

This reissue is pressed on 180g vinyl and comes with an obi. Rudy Van Gelder recorded it in Englewood Cliffs, and every tune is a love letter to Chicago, from "47th And Calumet" to "63rd And Cottage Grove."

This edition

• 180g vinyl
• Obi strip
• Stereo mix
• Pressed in the USA

About the album

Some albums are named after a feeling; this one reads like a street map. John Wright grew up on Chicago's South Side, and for his first album as a leader he and his trio wrote tunes named for its corners, clubs and after-hours spots.

Wright is joined by Wendell Roberts on bass and Walter McCants on drums, with Esmond Edwards supervising and Rudy Van Gelder at the controls on August 30, 1960. The title track rolls along on a gospel groove, "La Salle St. After Hours" slows to a late-night simmer, "35th St. Blues" stretches out for seven minutes, and "Sin Corner" and "Amen Corner" are paired, the sinner and the saint, to close the record. Esmond Edwards wrote the title track, Armond Jackson contributed "Sin Corner," and Wendell Roberts penned "35th St. Blues" and "Amen Corner."

Wright made five albums for Prestige in the early 1960s, all leaning into the soulful side of hard bop, and AllMusic notes how soulfully he plays while swinging. Consider it a walking tour of Chicago that you can take sitting down.

Also at Kops: more John Wright on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Prestige / Craft Recordings (cat# CR00721), a reissue of the 1960 album.