Stanley Turrentine

In Memory Of is a 1964 sextet session by Stanley Turrentine that Blue Note left unissued for sixteen years. Producer Michael Cuscuna found it in the vaults and released it in 1980 in the LT series. It is one of the tenor saxophonist's most varied dates of the period. The programme moves from swinging hard bop to ballads, Latin rhythms and an African dance tune.

The band was recorded at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, on June 3, 1964, with Rudy Van Gelder engineering and Alfred Lion producing. Turrentine fronts a three-horn line with Blue Mitchell on trumpet and Curtis Fuller on trombone. Behind them are Herbie Hancock on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass and Otis "Candy" Finch on drums.

The opener Fried Pies, a Wes Montgomery tune, swings brightly for more than ten minutes. Mickey Roker adds congas here and on the following track. In Memory Of is a ballad by Randy Weston that shows off Turrentine's big, bluesy tone at slow tempo. Niger Mambo, by the Nigerian bandleader Bobby Benson, is the shortest and most exuberant piece on the record. The second side brings Make Someone Happy from the Broadway stage, Bill Lee's Jodi's Cha Cha and the Peter Nero theme Sunday in New York.

The LT series was Blue Note's effort to issue sessions that had stayed on the shelf, many of them from the 1960s. This album presents a single complete session from one June day, with no material from other dates. AllMusic gives it four and a half stars.

This Blue Note Tone Poet edition (2025) is stereo, produced by Joe Harley and mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio from the original analogue master tapes. It is pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI and packaged in a deluxe gatefold tip-on jacket, with sleeve notes by Michael Cuscuna.