Larry Young - Unity

Larry Young Unity

Larry Young - Organ
Woody Shaw - Trumpet
Joe Henderson - Tenor Saxophone
Elvin Jones - Drums

1. Zoltan
2. Monk's Dream
3. If
4. The Moontrane
5. Softly as in a Morning Sunrise
6. Beyond All Limits




This is one of the all-time great blue note jazz albums. Larry Young was an extremely gifted organist. As is noted, there is no bassist on this recording. Larry Young handles the role of bassist by playing wonderful walking bass patterns on the foot pedals of his b3 organ. Young is certainly not the only organ player to do this; many organ trios, for example, consist of drums, organ, and guitar (Larry Young was part of an intriguing jazz-rock trio consisting of Young, drummer Tony Williams and guitarist John McLaughlin). Listening to Young keep the bass lines going during his solos tends to boggle my mind.

The incredible independence that Young has amongst his limbs is showcased in the duet of "Monk's Dream" with Elvin Jones. Jones is well known for ruling the throne in John Coltrane's classic quartet. Jones would prod Coltrane into hypnotic excursions by use of his incredible poly rhythms. On "Monk's Dream", he uses his sticks to provoke some carnal organ playing from Young.

On a side note, I believe I read somewhere that the saxophonist to organist analogy is thus: Bird is to Jimmy Smith as Coltrane is to Larry Young.

I like all of the tracks, but "Zoltan" stands out to me. This piece was written by Woody Shaw, and it is named after the famous Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly (surely, most music education students should recognize this name). The composition is introduced by a march pattern between Elvin Jones and Larry Young. After the first melody is stated, Young and Jones bring down the house with a nasty latin groove. The dynamic comping from the rhythm section provokes fiery solos from Woody Shaw and Joe Henderson. At 3:20, Henderson unleashes a glorious "outside" lick. Listen for yourself; is it not ballin'?

This album is great. My only complaint is that it only lasts for around forty minutes. I guess, in today's modern compact disc age, I am used to fifty to eighty minutes of music per album. The playing is definitely top-notch, and I recommend it to anybody that is attempting to boost their jazz record collection. 10 out of 5 stars!