Brown Sugar

Freddie Roach was one of the more subtle and graceful organ players on Blue Note in the early ’60s; he got his start backing saxophonist Ike Quebec on Heavy Soul and It Might As Well Be Spring, before making five albums for the label as a leader, of which Brown Sugar was the fourth. On earlier recordings, Roach had a light touch and broad taste in material, covering Henry Mancini, Louis Jordan, George Gershwin, and Erroll Garner. On this disc, he gets a little more gritty, and accompanied by saxophonist Joe Henderson, guitarist Eddie Wright, and drummer Clarence Johnston (the latter of whom played on all of his albums), he records rockin’ versions of Lloyd Price’s “Have You Ever Had The Blues” and Junior Parker’s “Next Time You See Me,” raising the question of whether this is even a jazz album, or an instrumental R&B record.