Larry Young (1940-1979) stands as a major figure in the history of jazz organ, having been the first on his instrument to move beyond the bop-based innovations of Jimmy Smith into newer modes of improvisation associated with John Coltrane. “I want to get into something really deep on the organ. . . something that hasn’t been gone into yet,” the then-21-year-old musician told Le Roi Jones for the liner notes of this album, Young’s third for Prestige. Joining the New Jersey-born organist were veteran organ-combo guitarist Thornel Schwartz, drummer Jimmie Smith, and Bill Leslie, an unjustly underrated tenor saxophonist who, Jones observed, “weeps and twists, sounding almost like a human voice--a quality that all legitimate blues people have.

with Thornel Schwartz, Bill Leslie, Jimmie Smith