Jimmy McGriff and Groove Holmes – Giants of the Organ Come Together – New CD

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• Congas – Kwasi Jayourba
• Drums – Bernard Purdie
• Engineer [Recording] – Malcolm Addey
• Guitar [Left Channel] – George Freeman
• Guitar [Right Channel] – O'Donel Levy
• Mastered By – Sam Feldman
• Performer [Left Channel] – Groove Holmes*
• Performer [Right Channel] – Jimmy McGriff
• Photography By – Chuck Stewart
• Producer – Sonny Lester

One of the all-time giants of the Hammond B-3, Jimmy McGriff sometimes gets lost amid all the great soul-jazz organists from his hometown of Philadelphia. He was almost certainly the bluesiest of the major soul-jazz pioneers, and indeed, he often insisted that he was more of a blues musician than a jazz artist; nonetheless, he remained eclectic enough to blur the lines of classification. His sound -- deep, down-to-earth grooves drenched in blues and gospel feeling -- made him quite popular with R&B audiences, even more so than some of his peers; what was more, he was able to condense those charms into concise, funky, jukebox-ready singles that often did surprisingly well on the R&B charts.

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Revered in soul-jazz circles, Richard "Groove" Holmes was an unapologetically swinging Jimmy Smith admirer who could effortlessly move from the grittiest of blues to the most sentimental of ballads. A very accessible, straightforward, and warm player, Holmes was especially popular in the black community and had been well respected on the Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey circuit by the time he signed with Pacific Jazz in the early '60s. He started receiving national attention by recording with such greats as Ben Webster and Gene Ammons. Best known for his hit 1965 version of "Misty," Holmes engaged in some inspired organ battles with Jimmy McGriff in the early '70s before turning to electric keyboards and fusion-ish material a few years later. The organ was Holmes' priority in the mid- to late '80s, when he recorded for Muse (he also had stints throughout his career with Prestige Records and Groove Merchant). Holmes was still delivering high-quality soul-jazz (often featuring tenor titan Houston Person) when a heart attack claimed his life at the age of 60 in 1991.