Stanley Turrentine -

Stanley Turrentine (April 5, 1934 — September 12, 2000) was an American post-bop/jazz-funk tenor saxophonist.

He emerged from Pittsburgh’s hard-bop scene in the 1950s, first gaining notice with Earl Bostic, Max Roach, and Horace Silver before making his Blue Note debut in 1960. Through the 1960s he recorded a string of organ-combo soul-jazz classics with Shirley Scott and under his own name, highlighted by Look Out!, That’s Where It’s At, and Sugar.

In the 1970s he crossed into CTI’s lush jazz-funk productions (Sugar, Salt Song, Cherry), then spent 1974–82 on Fantasy and Elektra exploring funk, R&B, and crossover settings before returning to acoustic and small-group formats on labels like Blue Note, MusicMasters, and Concord through the 1990s.

Background

Stanley William Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1934 into a musical family. His father played saxophone, his mother played stride piano, and his brother Tommy became a trumpeter. Turrentine took up the saxophone at age eleven, influenced by Illinois Jacquet. As a teenager, he performed in local blues and R&B groups before beginning his professional career.

At seventeen, Turrentine toured with guitarist Lowell Fulson and worked with pianist and songwriter Ray Charles. He later moved to Cleveland, where he played with Tadd Dameron. In 1953, he joined Earl Bostic’s band, replacing John Coltrane. During his military service in the mid-1950s, he received formal musical training. After his discharge in 1959, he joined drummer Max Roach’s band and appeared on Quiet as It’s Kept (1959) and Moon Faced and Starry Eyed (1960).

Prestige/Blue Note/Impulse! Years

In 1960, Turrentine married organist Shirley Scott. They began recording together as co-leaders, producing Hip Soul (1961), Hip Twist (1962), and Soul Shoutin’ (1963). They also contributed to each other’s projects, such as Turrentine’s Dearly Beloved (1961) and Scott’s Everybody Loves a Lover (1964). Their partnership established him as a prominent voice on the saxophone and drew the attention of Blue Note Records founder Alfred Lion.

Turrentine signed with Blue Note in 1960. As a sideman, he recorded on Horace Parlan’s Speakin’ My Piece (1960), Art Taylor’s A.T.’s Delight (1960), and Duke Jordan’s Flight to Jordan (1960). He also began a long association with organist Jimmy Smith, appearing on Midnight Special (1961) and Back at the Chicken Shack (1963). These sessions placed him firmly within the organ-combo format that shaped much of his work in the 1960s.

During his Blue Note years, Turrentine also recorded with guitarist Kenny Burrell on Midnight Blue (1963), with trumpeter Donald Byrd on Up with Donald Byrd (1964), with pianist Horace Silver on Serenade to a Soul Sister (1968), and with Duke Pearson on The Right Touch (1967). He collaborated with his brother Tommy on the 1960 album Tommy Turrentine. As a leader, he produced albums such as Look Out! (1960), That’s Where It’s At (1962), and Never Let Me Go (1963).

CTI/Fantasy/Elektra Years

In 1970, Turrentine joined Creed Taylor’s CTI label. His first release for the label, Sugar (1970), was followed by Salt Song (1971), Cherry (1972), and Don’t Mess with Mister T (1973). These records placed him in larger ensemble settings with musicians such as George Benson, Ron Carter, and Idris Muhammad. He also appeared on Freddie Hubbard’s Life Flight (1970) and Mongo Santamaria’s Mongo’s Way (1971) for CTI.

Between 1974 and 1982, Turrentine recorded extensively for Fantasy and Elektra, blending jazz-funk with contemporary R&B. His Fantasy releases included The Sugar Man, In the Pocket, Have You Ever Seen the Rain, Everybody Come On Out, The Man with the Sad Face, Nightwings, West Side Highway, and What About You! — albums that fused orchestrated arrangements, electric keyboards, and disco-era rhythms.

On Elektra, he cut Betcha (1979) and Tender Togetherness (1981), both polished productions that featured R&B vocalists and string-laden textures, while he maintained his jazz roots on Blue Note’s New Time Shuffle (1979). He closed this phase with Home Again (1982).

Later Years

Turrentine recorded steadily in the 1980s and 1990s. He reunited with Jimmy Smith on Off the Top (1982) and Go For Watcha Know (1986). He appeared on trumpeter Roy Hargrove’s With the Tenors of Our Time (1994) and contributed to Diana Krall’s Only Trust Your Heart (1995). His own leader dates included Tender Togetherness (1981) on Elektra, La Place (1989) on Blue Note, and If I Could (1993) on MusicMasters.

His final projects included Gene Harris Trio Plus One (1996) with pianist Gene Harris and Fourmost Return (1999) with Jimmy Smith, George Benson, and Ron Carter. Turrentine died in New York City in 2000. Across his career, he maintained an output that spanned blues, R&B, hard bop, and soul-jazz, leaving behind a large body of recordings as both leader and sideman from 1959 through the 1990s.

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