Elegant Soul
Encyclopedia
Elegant Soul is an album by jazz group The Three Sounds
featuring performances with an orchestra arranged by Monk Higgins
recorded in 1968 and released on the Blue Note
label.
The Three Sounds
The Three Sounds were an American jazz trio that formed in 1956 and disbanded in 1973. The trio played and recorded with Lester Young, Lou Donaldson, Nat Adderley, Johnny Griffin, Anita O'Day, Bucky Pizzarelli, Stanley Turrentine and Sonny Stitt among others.The band formed in Benton Harbor,...
featuring performances with an orchestra arranged by Monk Higgins
Monk Higgins
Milton Bland better known as Monk Higgins, was an American musician and saxophonist who was born in Menifee, Arkansas....
recorded in 1968 and released on the Blue Note
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
label.
Reception
The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 3½ stars stating "Elegant Soul was -- and could even be currently -- dismissed with a casual listen as lightweight pop with a compelling rhythmic sense. But that would be selling it way short. This album warrants close listening to discern all that's happening in its production and arrangements. Whether it's on the dancefloor, for sampling, for feel-good or deep listening, or for finger-popping, it satisfies on all levels".Track listing
- "Elegant Soul" (Virginia P. Bland) - 3:15
- "Do It Right Now" (Bland) - 6:20
- "Sittin' Duck" (Monk Higgins) - 9:18
- "(Sock It to Me) Harper Valley P.T.A.Harper Valley PTA"Harper Valley PTA" is a country song written by Tom T. Hall that was a major international hit single for country singer Jeannie C. Riley in 1968. Riley's record sold over six million copies as a single. The song made Riley the first woman to top both Billboard's Hot 100 and the U.S...
" (Tom T. HallTom T. HallThomas "Tom T." Hall is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has written 11 #1 hit songs, with 26 more that reached the Top 10, including the pop crossover hit "I Love", which reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100...
) - 2:48 - "Sugar Hill" (Dee Ervin, Miles Grayson) - 2:48
- "African Sweets" (Ervin) - 4:30
- "Black Gold" (Grayson) - 3:29
- "Book of Slim" (Higgins) - 3:26
- "Walls of Respect" (Gene Harris, Higgins) - 3:13
- Recorded at RPM Studios, Los Angeles, California on September 19 (tracks 3, 4 & 8) and September 20 (tracks 1, 2, 5-7 & 9), 1968
Personnel
- Gene HarrisGene HarrisGene Harris was an American jazz pianist known for his warm sound and blues and gospel infused style that is known as soul jazz....
- pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, organElectronic organAn electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds.... - Andrew Simpkins - bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
- Carl Burnett, Paul HumphreyPaul HumphreyPaul Nelson Humphrey is an American jazz and funk/R+B drummer.He worked as a session drummer in the 1960s for jazz artists such as Wes Montgomery, Les McCann, Kai Winding, Charles Mingus, Lee Konitz, Blue Mitchell and Gene Ammons.As a bandleader, he recorded under the name Paul Humphrey and the...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Monk HigginsMonk HigginsMilton Bland better known as Monk Higgins, was an American musician and saxophonist who was born in Menifee, Arkansas....
- arrangerArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
, conductorConductingConducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble... - Jim HornJim HornJim Horn is an American saxophonist and woodwind player. He was born in Los Angeles, and after replacing saxophonist Steve Douglas in 1959, he toured with member Duane Eddy for five years, playing sax and flute on the road, and in the recording studio...
- fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening... - Bob Jung - reeds
- Dave Burk, Jesse Erlich, Henry Felber, Ron Fulsom, Louis Kievman, William Kurash, Leonard Malarsky, Ralph Schaeffer, Albert Steinberg, Tibor Zelig - violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Phil Goldberg, Leonard Selic - violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Jerry Kessler - celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
- Alan Estes - vibesVibraphoneThe vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
- Al Vescovo - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Dee Ervin, Miles Grayson - percussion