View source for Soul jazz

{{Short description|Music genre}}
{{for|the record label|Soul Jazz Records}}

{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Soul jazz
| image             = Stanley Turrentine.jpg
| caption           = Stanley Turrentine performing live in [[Half Moon Bay]], California
| stylistic_origins = {{hlist|[[Hard bop]]|[[jazz]]|[[Soul music|soul]]|[[blues]]|[[rhythm and blues]]|[[Gospel music|gospel]]}}
| cultural_origins  = 1950s
| derivatives       = 
| subgenrelist      = 
| subgenres         = 
| fusiongenres      = [[Jazz-funk]]
| regional_scenes   = 
| other_topics      = 
}}'''Soul jazz''' or '''funky jazz''' is a subgenre of [[jazz]] that incorporates strong influences from [[hard bop]], [[blues]], [[Soul music|soul]], [[Gospel music|gospel]] and [[rhythm and blues]]. Soul jazz is often characterized by [[organ trio|organ trios]] featuring the [[Hammond organ]] and small combos including [[saxophone]], [[Brass instrument|brass instruments]], [[electric guitar]], bass, drums, piano, vocals and electric organ. Its origins were in the 1950s and early 1960s, with its heyday with popular audiences preceding the rise of [[jazz fusion]] in the late 1960s and 1970s. Prominent names in fusion ranged from bop pianists including [[Bobby Timmons]] and [[Junior Mance]] to a wide range of organists, saxophonists, pianists, drummers and electric guitarists including [[Jack McDuff]], [[Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis]], and [[Grant Green]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Soul Jazz Music Genre Overview |url=https://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/soul-jazz-ma0000002866 |access-date=July 14, 2022 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}</ref>

==Musical style==
Soul jazz is often associated with [[hard bop]].<ref name="gridley">{{Cite book | last =Gridley | first =Mark C. | editor =Ron Wynn | editor-link =Ron Wynn | others =M. Erlewine, V. Bogdanov | year =1994 | title =[[All Music Guide to Jazz]] | place =San Francisco | publisher =Miller Freeman | pages =[https://archive.org/details/allmusicguidetoj00wynn/page/11 11–12, 14] | isbn =0-87930-308-5 }}</ref><ref name="tanner">{{cite book|last=Tanner|first=Paul O. W.|author-link=Paul Tanner|author2=Maurice Gerow|author3=David W. Megill|title=Jazz|orig-year=1964|edition=6th|year=1988|publisher=William C. Brown, College Division|location=Dubuque, IA|isbn=0-697-03663-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/jazz00tann/page/112 112–121]|chapter=Hard Bop — Funky|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/jazz00tann/page/112}}</ref><ref name="carr" /> Mark C. Gridley, writing for the ''[[All Music Guide to Jazz]]'', explains that soul jazz more specifically refers to music with "an earthy, bluesy melodic concept" and "repetitive, dance-like rhythms.... Note that some listeners make no distinction between 'soul-jazz' and 'funky hard bop,' and many musicians don't consider 'soul-jazz' to be continuous with 'hard bop.{{'"}}<ref name="gridley" />

According to Nick Morrison, the subgenre "usually begins with the bass player" who "take[s] a strong bass line, establish[es] a steady groove between the bass and drums", before the band can "embellish that groove with riffs and melody lines".<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Morrison |first=Nick |date=2010-01-04 |title=Soul-Jazz: Where Jazz, Blues And Gospel Meet |language=en |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2010/01/04/98279702/soul-jazz-where-jazz-blues-and-gospel-meet |access-date=July 11, 2022}}</ref>

Jazz pianist Horace Silver stated that "[f]unky means earthy and blues-based. It might not be blues itself, but it does have that 'down-home' feel to it. Soul is basically the same, but there's an added dimension of feeling and spirit."<ref>{{cite book
| first= Paul
| last= Du Noyer
| year= 2003
| title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music
| edition= 1st
| publisher= Flame Tree Publishing
| location= Fulham, London
| isbn= 1-904041-96-5
| page= 140}}</ref>

== History ==

=== Origins ===
[[Roy Carr]] has described soul jazz as an outgrowth of hard bop, with the terms "funk" and "soul" appearing in a jazz context as early as the mid-1950s to describe "gospel-informed, down-home, call-and-response blues".<ref name="carr">{{Cite book|last1=Carr|first1=Roy|author-link1=Roy Carr|title=A Century of Jazz: A Hundred Years of the Greatest Music Ever Made|year=2006|orig-year=1997|publisher=Hamlyn|location=London|chapter=Soul to Soul|pages=150–153|isbn=0-681-03179-4|quote=Soul [jazz] was just a natural outpouring of Hard Bop and, for the most part popularized by many of the genre's stellar soloists....|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/centuryofjazz0000carr/page/106}}</ref> Carr has also noted the influence of [[Ray Charles]]' small group recordings (which included saxophonists [[David "Fathead" Newman]] and [[Hank Crawford]]) on [[Horace Silver]], [[Art Blakey]], [[Cannonball Adderley]].<ref name="carr" /> In his view, [[David Sanborn]] and [[Maceo Parker]] are in a line of [[Alto saxophone|alto saxophonists]] that includes [[Earl Bostic]], [[Tab Smith]], Adderley, and [[Lou Donaldson]] as the strongest links in the chain of the genre's evolution.<ref name="carr" />

In the early to mid-1950s, after he left the [[Count Basie Orchestra]], saxophonist Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis was among the first to form a jazz group with both organ and saxophone, first with [[Bill Doggett]] and later [[Shirley Scott]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=TENOR SAXOPHONE GREAT EDDIE 'LOCKJAW' DAVIS |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-11-04-8603230029-story.html |access-date=July 14, 2022 |website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> For this and his "full bodied yet reedy tone that was equally at home in rhythm & blues settings as more modern contexts," he "provided a link" between big band swing and soul jazz.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-01 |title=Eddie Lockjaw Davis developed one of the most unmistakable tenor sax sounds in post war jazz: Video • |url=https://jazzbluesnews.com/2018/03/02/eddie-lockjaw-davis-developed-one-of-the-most-unmistakable-tenor-sax-sounds-in-post-war-jazz-video/ |access-date=July 14, 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Soul jazz continued to develop in the late 1950s, reaching public awareness with the release of ''[[The Cannonball Adderley Quintet in San Francisco]]''.<ref name="NPR">Sidran, Ben. [https://legacy.npr.org/programs/jazzprofiles/archive/adderley_n.html Jazz Profiles from NPR: Nat Adderley (1931–2000)] NPR. Accessed June 16, 2021.</ref><ref>''See also'' Herrmann, Zachary. (April 2, 2007) [http://jazztimes.com/columns_and_features/news/detail.cfm?article=11067 Concord releases Orrin Keepnews Collection] ''JazzTimes Magazine''. Accessed December 13, 2007.</ref> Cannonball Adderley noted: "We were pressured quite heavily by [[Riverside Records]] when they discovered there was a word called 'soul'. We became, from an image point of view, soul jazz artists. They kept promoting us that way and I kept deliberately fighting it, to the extent that it became a game."<ref>Quoted in Carr, p. 150.</ref> Late 1950s, soul jazz artist [[Curtis Fuller]] recorded "Five Spot after Dark".<ref>[https://www.allmusic.com/artist/curtis-fuller-mn0000139566 Curtis Fuller] allmusic Retrieved 14 March 2024</ref>

=== Mainstream ===
[[File:Het Less McCann trio op Schiphol, vlnr Less McCann (piano), Hurby Loui (bas), Bestanddeelnr 914-5091.jpg|left|thumb|Les McCann Trio]]
Jimmy Smith's shift into soul jazz demonstrated the organ's potential within the genre with his albums ''[[Home Cookin' (album)|Home Cookin'<nowiki/>]]'' (1961) and ''[[Back at the Chicken Shack]]'' (1963). Other organists who recorded in the soul jazz genre during this period include [[Jack McDuff]], [[Shirley Scott]], and [[Charles Earland]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-02-27 |title=What is Soul Jazz? |url=https://newyorkjazzworkshop.com/what-is-soul-jazz/ |access-date=July 11, 2022 |website=New York Jazz Workshop |language=en-US}}</ref> With the addition of former bebop and hard-bop musicians to the genre, the number of musicians within various facets of the style increased as soul jazz became a subgenre in its own right; and like its bop predecessor, the new genre of jazz reworked popular songs, such as "[[Got My Mojo Working|Got My Mojo Workin']]," while saxophone and trumpet players recently converted to the genre composed hits including "[[The Sidewinder (composition)|The Sidewinder]]", "[[Mercy, Mercy, Mercy]]" and "Listen Here" during the mid-1960s.<ref name=":0" />

[[Image:Jimmy Oscar Smith Hammond.JPG|thumb|230px|[[Jimmy Smith (musician)|Jimmy Smith]] on a [[Hammond organ]]]]An accelerating factor in soul jazz's development was the [[Black Power movement]], which led African-American musicians to return to the African roots of their music. Tunes recorded within the genre, including "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" and "Let My People Go" were direct references to the [[Civil rights movement|civil rights]] and Black Power movements.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Soul Jazz |url=https://timeline.carnegiehall.org/genres/soul-jazz |access-date=July 11, 2022 |website=Timeline of African American Music |language=en}}</ref> For instance, Adderley's music from the period has been described as containing an "irrepressible exuberance". Interest in the genre broadened when Adderley introduced Austrian-born keyboardist [[Joe Zawinul]] to soul jazz through his Quintet, with Zawinul contributing to its repertoire with his own compositions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cannonball Adderley - Mercy, Mercy, Mercy!: Live at "The Club" Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/mercy-mercy-mercy!-live-at-the-club-mw0000173884 |language=en |access-date=July 11, 2022}}</ref>

Likewise [[Stanley Turrentine]], who began recording with Jimmy Smith in 1960 and rapidly expanded his audience, lamented the lack of jazz on radio and TV, saying that more people, and particularly African Americans, would have listened to soul jazz had it received as much exposure as rock music.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hazzard |first=Katrina |date=1980 |title=King of jazz: Face to Face STANLEY TURRENTINE |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43690557 |journal=Umoja Sasa |pages=11 |jstor=43690557 |issn=2472-0674}}</ref> The tenor saxophone player recorded a number of soul jazz albums throughout the 1960s, including ''[[Never Let Me Go (Stanley Turrentine album)|Never Let Me Go]]'' (1963) with his wife Shirley Scott. Jazz critic Thom Jurek noted that on the recording "the organ acts as the testifying pulpit from which to speak, and Turrentine not only speaks, he weeps and whispers and wails."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stanley Turrentine - Never Let Me Go Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/never-let-me-go-mw0000081094 |language=en |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref> Turrentine's following album, ''[[A Chip Off the Old Block (album)|A Chip Off the Old Block]]'' (1963), marked the first shift in influence, in this case from the swing/big band era with compositions by [[Count Basie]] and [[Neal Hefti]]. Turrentine's wife again contributed in addition to hard bop trumpeter [[Blue Mitchell]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stanley Turrentine - A Chip Off the Old Block Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-chip-off-the-old-block-mw0000545171 |language=en |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref> In the mid- to late-1960s, Turrentine evolved his soul jazz style from the small-group setting traditionally associated with the subgenre to an ensemble format,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Stanley Turrentine Biography, Songs, & Albums |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/stanley-turrentine-mn0000012644/biography |access-date=July 12, 2022 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}</ref> with ''[[Joyride (Stanley Turrentine album)|Joyride]]'' (1965) arranged by fellow jazz saxophonist [[Oliver Nelson]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stanley Turrentine - Joyride Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/joyride-mw0000649759 |language=en |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref>
[[File:KPLU In-Studio Performance Ramsey Lewis 2.jpg|left|thumb|205x205px|Ramsey Lewis]]
While Turrentine developed the core of the "soul" in soul jazz, Latin and funky influences developed soul jazz upon the foundation of bop. Pianist Herbie Hancock, for instance, was instrumental in pushing the boundaries of music theory and chord progressions during the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Waters |first=Keith |date=2005 |title=Modes, Scales, Functional Harmony, and Nonfunctional Harmony in the Compositions of Herbie Hancock |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27639403 |journal=Journal of Music Theory |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=333–357 |doi=10.1215/00222909-011 |jstor=27639403 |issn=0022-2909|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Hancock's first album ''[[Takin' Off]]'' (1962) featured the funky "[[Watermelon Man (composition)|Watermelon Man]]", a composition recorded by both Hancock and [[Mongo Santamaría|Mongo Santamaria]], and was notable for "spare, funky piano riffing and tight, focused solo statements" that enabled Hancock to "begin pushing the boundaries of hard bop."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Herbie Hancock - Takin' Off Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/takin-off-mw0000191931 |language=en |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref> The 1960s saw Hancock and trumpeter Lee Morgan's compositions be used in TV, with "[[Maiden Voyage (composition)|Maiden Voyage]]" by Hancock appearing in a [[House of Fabergé|Fabergé]] commercial and Morgan's "The Sidewinder" in a [[Chrysler]] commercial.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Rosenthal |first=David H. |date=1988 |title=Jazz in the Ghetto: 1950-70 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/853075 |journal=Popular Music |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=51–56 |doi=10.1017/S026114300000252X |jstor=853075 |issn=0261-1430|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Popularizations of jazz compositions, such as the renditions of "Watermelon Man" by Santamaria and [[Gloria Lynne]], went further to make soul jazz appealing to Black audiences, particularly in the early to mid-1960s, though this shifted over the course of the decade so much that by the late 1960s, the jazz musicians themselves were producing hit records, with six Jimmy Smith/[[Blue Note Records|Blue Note]] albums reaching the top 200. However, jazz labels such as Blue Note found it difficult to compete with larger record companies for advertising opportunities.<ref name=":2" />
[[File:Eddie Harris.jpg|thumb|Saxophonist Eddie Harris]]
The growing popularity of soul jazz meant that, for many hard bop musicians, the shift from bop to soul jazz was not clearly defined, with Horace Silver releasing hard bop album ''[[The Jody Grind]]'' in 1966,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Horace Silver - The Jody Grind Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-jody-grind-mw0000265278 |language=en |access-date=July 11, 2022}}</ref> and the more soul-influenced ''[[Serenade to a Soul Sister]]'' – starring Turrentine – in 1968. The latter album was described by Steve Huey as "one of the pianist's most infectiously cheerful, good-humored outings." Silver wrote in the album's liner notes that he believed his music should avoid "politics, hatred, or anger."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Horace Silver - Serenade to a Soul Sister Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/serenade-to-a-soul-sister-mw0000203356 |language=en |access-date=July 11, 2022}}</ref> Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley took even longer to make the shift, playing primarily within the hard bop genre until 1968, when he recorded ''[[Reach Out! (Hank Mobley album)|Reach Out!]]'' with a light soul jazz feel.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hank Mobley - Reach Out Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/reach-out-mw0000028885 |language=en |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref> His following album ''[[The Flip (album)|The Flip]]'' (1969) blended soul jazz and hard bop on its title track, according to Jurek.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hank Mobley - The Flip Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-flip-mw0000318285 |language=en |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref> Other jazz artists, such as Lee Morgan, wavered in and out of the soul jazz genre. Drawing influence from the reliably hard bop Jazz Messengers, Morgan's albums of the mid-1960s could be described as both hard bop and soul jazz. Morgan hired bop musicians for the album but recorded soul-influenced material, for instance on the album ''[[Cornbread (album)|Cornbread]]'' (1965).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lee Morgan - Cornbread Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/cornbread-mw0000198805 |language=en |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref>

Other soul jazz musicians had their roots almost entirely in soul and blues. Organist Jack McDuff, for example, was known for his particularly bluesy style, which enabled him to collaborate with young jazz talents including saxophonist [[Johnny Griffin]] and guitarist [[George Benson]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jack McDuff Biography, Songs, & Albums |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/jack-mcduff-mn0000118853/biography |access-date=July 12, 2022 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}</ref> McDuff's band focused on "groove-centric" music but in the later '60s experimented with popular songs and larger ensembles, particularly on his album ''Tobacco Road'' (1967).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Brother Jack McDuff, Jack McDuff - Tobacco Road Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/tobacco-road-mw0000535056 |language=en |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref> In contrast, former McDuff sideman and guitarist [[Pat Martino]] utilized an organ trio format during the late 1960s, with the live ''[[Young Guns (album)|Young Guns]]'' (2014) album recorded at Club 118 in 1968 and 1969 featuring [[Gene Ludwig]] on organ and [[Randy Gelispie]] on drums.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-04-01 |title=Jazz CD of the Month: PAT MARTINO TRIO with Randy Gilespie / YOUNG GUNS / High Note 7258 |url=https://www.kios.org/other-content/2014-04-01/jazz-cd-of-the-month-pat-martino-trio-with-randy-gilespie-young-guns-high-note-7258 |access-date=July 12, 2022 |website=91.5 KIOS-FM |language=en}}</ref>

Among the best-known soul jazz recordings from the era are [[Lee Morgan]]'s ''[[The Sidewinder]]'' (1963), [[Frank Foster (jazz musician)|Frank Foster]]'s ''Samba Blues'' (1963), [[Nat Adderley]]'s "[[Work Song (Adderley song)|Work Song]]", Horace Silver's "[[Song for My Father (song)|Song for My Father]]" (1964), [[Ramsey Lewis]]'s "[[The 'In' Crowd (song)|The 'In' Crowd]]" (a top-five hit in 1965<ref name="carr" />), Cannonball Adderley's "[[Mercy, Mercy, Mercy]]"<ref name="carr" /> (1966) (also popularized further when covered as a top-40 pop song by [[the Buckinghams]] the following year), and Young Holt Unlimited "Soulful Strut". [[Les McCann]] and [[Eddie Harris]]'s album ''[[Swiss Movement]]'' (1969) was a [[hit record]], as was the accompanying [[Single (music)|single]] "[[Compared to What]]", with both selling millions of units.<ref name="carr" />

=== Fusion ===
Soul jazz began to mold into [[jazz fusion]] by the late 1960s, with musicians such as Turrentine moving to the [[CTI Records|CTI]] fusion label in the early 1970s<ref name=":1" /> and free jazz saxophonist [[Albert Ayler]] moving into jazz-rock during the late 1960s before his untimely death in 1970.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Albert Ayler {{!}} Biography, Music, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albert-Ayler |access-date=July 12, 2022 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> With the temporary decline of Blue Note and the rapid rise of the CTI label, soul jazz moved toward smooth jazz and popular music of the day, with the label's founder [[Creed Taylor]] remarking that his original goal of creating jazz for listening had "backfired" into the development of background music.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jazz |first=All About |date=2020-09-21 |title=CTI Records: Ten Tasty Albums With No Added Sugar (Almost) article @ All About Jazz |url=https://www.allaboutjazz.com/cti-records-ten-tasty-albums-with-no-added-sugar-almost-chet-baker |access-date=July 12, 2022 |website=All About Jazz |language=en}}</ref>

Others pushed the boundaries of soul jazz to the extent it became fused with other genres. Tenor saxophonist Eddie Harris switched to the electric saxophone for his album titled ''[[The Electrifying Eddie Harris]]'' (1968).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eddie Harris - The Electrifying Eddie Harris Album Reviews, Songs & More {{!}} AllMusic |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-electrifying-eddie-harris-mw0001509928 |language=en |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref> His experiments in "funk-influenced fusion, outside improvisations, bizarre electronic effects, new crossbreedings of traditional instruments, blues crooning, and even comedy," according to Steve Huey, "fell outside the bounds of what critics considered legitimate, serious jazz." He [[Neo-bop jazz|returned to bop]] late in his career.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Eddie Harris Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/eddie-harris-mn0000169124 |access-date=July 12, 2022 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
Although soul jazz was most popular during the mid-to-late 1960s, its musicians and musical influences remained popular past this time period.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, the genre saw increased [[Crossover music|crossover]] with fusion. The Jazz Crusaders, for example, evolved from soul jazz to [[soul music]], becoming [[The Crusaders (Houston group)|the Crusaders]] in the process.<ref name="carr" />

==See also==
{{Portal|Jazz}}
*[[List of soul-jazz musicians]]
*[[:Category:Soul-jazz musicians]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{AllMusic|class=explore/style|id=d297}}
* [https://www.npr.org/2010/01/04/98279702/soul-jazz-where-jazz-blues-and-gospel-meet Soul-Jazz: Where Jazz, Blues And Gospel Meet] at [[NPR Music]]

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{{Rhythm and blues}}
{{Soulmusic}}

[[Category:Soul jazz| ]]
[[Category:Jazz genres]]
[[Category:Soul music genres]]