Stanley Turrentine’s ‘In Memory Of’ Joins Blue Note Tone Poet Series
The album, originally recorded in 1964 but released in 1979, featured the likes of Herbie Hancock, Blue Mitchell, and Curtis Fuller.
Pittsburgh-born saxophonist Stanley Turrentine’s album In Memory Of is receiving a new reissue courtesy of the Blue Note Tone Poet Series.
Recorded in 1964 but not released on the label until 1979, In Memory Of saw Turrentine collaborate with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Blue Mitchell, Bob Cranshaw, Curtis Fuller, and Otis Finch. The six-track record captured a session the artists shared on June 3rd, 1964 at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
The album features an array of covers from the likes of Wes Montgomery, Bobby Benson, and Bill Lee. In Memory Of was produced by Alfred Lion, and engineered by Rudy Van Gelder. The album marks just one of countless sessions Turrentine played in 1964, many in collaboration with organists Jimmy Smith and Shirley Scott, the latter of whom he was married to from 1960 to 1971. Turrentine died in 2000 following a stroke—he continued to play music, with a specific eye towards soul-jazz fusion, up until the late 1990s.
In Memory Of is the latest of Turrentine’s works to join the Blue Note Tone Poet Series, launched in 2019 by the producer and “Tone Poet” Joe Harley, who handpicks every record reissued in the series. Previously-featured Turrentine records include That’s Where It’s At, Rough ‘N Tumble, Comin’ Your Way and Mr. Natural. Recent artists highlighted in the series include Chet Baker, Duke Ellington, Bobby Hutcherson, Dexter Gordon, Hank Mobley, and Baby Face Willette.
