Along Came John

John Patton started out as a pianist, backing R&B singer Lloyd Price, before switching to the organ; he played with alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson for several years, alongside guitarist Grant Green and drummer Ben Dixon (who’d also been in Price’s band). Both men back him on this, his debut album. The front line consists of two tenor saxophonists, Fred Jackson and Harold Vick, who growl and roar in unison and in harmony. Patton’s style is very bluesy, with lots of sweeps across the keys and phrases that repeat until the intensity is almost too much to bear. The compositions have an almost rock ’n’ roll simplicity, and Dixon lays down a heavy backbeat over which Green’s guitar floats and stings. This is a head-nodding, foot-stomping party of an album.