The Boss Is Back!

by Gene Ammons

Product Description:

Personnel: Gene Ammons, Prince James, Houston Person (tenor saxophone); Junior Mance (piano); Sonny Phillips (organ); Billy Butler (guitar); Bob Bushnell (Fender bass); Buster Williams (bass); Bernard Purdie, Frankie Jones (drums); Candido (congas).

Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on November, 10 & 11, 1969. Includes liner notes by Dan Morgenstern and Bob Porter.

Digitally remastered by Phil De Lancie (1993, Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California).

This CD actually includes the two albums recorded immediately upon Gene Ammons' release from prison in 1969. The first, titled THE BOSS IS BACK!, unites Ammons with fellow tenor saxophonists Prince James and Houston Person on a few cuts as well as with old musical cohort Junior Mance on piano and a sparkling rhythm section that adds congas to the bass and drums.

For the latter set, originally titled BROTHER JUG!, Ammons is presented in one of his favorite ensemble formats, the organ trio-with an added guitar on several numbers. The music harks back to his defining work in the genre (check out both PREACHIN' and THE GENE AMMONS STORY: THE ORGAN COMBOS) while subtly modernizing it with Bob Bushnell on Fender bass and the funkier push of drummer Bernard Purdie. Standouts include the romantic Jimmy Webb ballad "Didn't We" and the soulful "Son Of A Preacher Man."