Stanley Turrentine

Common Touch is a soul jazz date that tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine recorded for Blue Note in August 1968, with his then wife Shirley Scott on organ. Turrentine had made his Blue Note debut in 1960 and had been a mainstay of the label for most of the decade. This was his twenty-first session as a leader, a relaxed, groove-based record that has stayed in the shadow of his better known albums.

The session took place on 30 August 1968 at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, with Rudy Van Gelder engineering and Francis Wolff producing. Turrentine and Scott are joined by Jimmy Ponder on guitar, Bob Cranshaw on electric bass and Leo Morris, later known as Idris Muhammad, on drums.

The six tracks mix originals and covers of the day. Turrentine's Buster Brown opens on an easy, funky strut, and Scott's Boogaloo leans into the dance rhythms of the late 1960s. Doc Pomus's Lonely Avenue is a slow burn of more than eight minutes, the tenor's big, bluesy sound up front over organ and guitar. The set also includes a version of Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind and the gently swinging title track. Turrentine's Living Through It All is the longest of his three originals here.

Reviewing it for AllMusic, Scott Yanow observed that none of the tempos rise above slow-medium. He still found that "this lazy date has its pleasurable moments". That unhurried pace is the character of the record, and Scott's organ gives it a warm, rounded bottom.

This is the Japanese Ultimate High Quality CD from Universal Music Japan (UCCQ-9663, 2024), remastered by Kevin Gray and presented in a jewel case with obi. The original sleeve notes are reproduced on the back inlay. It keeps the six tracks of the original LP, without the bonus track Ain't No Way added to earlier CD editions.