A swinging soul-jazz set from just before the point where soul-jazz turned once and for all into fusion, 1970's Brother Jug is very much an album of its time.
(Note Billy Butler's funky-cheesy wah-wah guitar underpinning "Jungle Strut.") That said, while the album doesn't have the classic timelessness of Gene Ammons' best '50s and early-'60s work, Brother Jug is one of Ammons' better albums released soon after the tenor saxophonist's release from a seven-year prison sentence.
Ammons' playing on this album has an unaccustomed grit; even on ballads like "Didn't We," there's an R&B-style honk to Ammons' tone that suits the funky, electric arrangements well.
Brother Jug is not an all-time classic -- the closing take on "Son of a Preacher Man," with Sonny Phillips' in-your-face wah-wah organ, is hampered by a too-sluggish rhythm section and some unimaginative, braying solos by Ammons -- but even the weakest tunes have a certain historical interest.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Son of a Preacher Man | Gene Ammons | Play | 04:27 | 10 MB | 24 MB |
| 2 | Didn't We | Gene Ammons | Play | 06:05 | 13 MB | 30 MB |
| 3 | He's a Real Gone Guy | Gene Ammons | Play | 05:06 | 11 MB | 29 MB |
| 4 | Jungle Strut | Gene Ammons | Play | 05:12 | 11 MB | 29 MB |
| 5 | Blue Velvet | Gene Ammons | Play | 04:06 | 9 MB | 20 MB |
| 6 | Ger-ru | Gene Ammons | Play | 08:47 | 20 MB | 49 MB |
| 33 mins | 77 MB | |||||
| 33 mins | 183 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gene Ammons | Primary Artist, Sax (Tenor) |
| 2 | Bob Bushnell | Bass, Bass (Electric) |
| 3 | Billy Butler | Guitar |
| 4 | Candido | Congas |
| 5 | Frankie Jones | Drums |
| 6 | Junior Mance | Piano |
| 7 | Sonny Phillips | Organ |
| 8 | Bernard "Pretty" Purdie | Drums |
| 9 | Buster Williams | Bass |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |