*** Bennie Green

SOUL STIRRIN'

(Blue Note)

From the first slow, hot, churchy chords, this session delivers and sustains a relaxed intensity. Green was a trombonist known for his bebopper's ear and swing attack. The tunes often have the simplicity and directness of funk riffs, with short Babs Gonzalez-style group vocal intros (we're talking '58 funk here). But Green knows how to work those riffs over without wearing them out, whether blasting away a staccato line with a single note or unfolding long melodies with Ellingtonian lyricism. Tenors Gene Ammons and Billy Root play in the big horn tradition, with the warmth, brawn, and facility of Young, Webster, and Hawkins. Unlike a lot of "blowing sessions," this one is marked by varied ensemble textures and tempos, and call-and-response passages that shout. Sonny Clark and Elvin Jones round out the rhythm section.

-- Jon Garelick