Duke Pearson

The Right Touch is the most complete portrait of Duke Pearson on record, pianist, composer and arranger at once. Recorded for Blue Note in September 1967, it sets six of his own tunes for an eight-piece band. It is also the obvious starting point for anyone reconsidering a career that is still underrated next to those of the players around him. Pearson, born in Atlanta, had been Blue Note's A&R man since 1963, writing and producing for other leaders as well as for himself.

Pearson wrote for a band of familiar Blue Note voices. Freddie Hubbard plays trumpet and flugelhorn and Garnett Brown trombone. James Spaulding and Jerry Dodgion are on alto saxophones (Dodgion also on flute), and Stanley Turrentine on tenor, over a rhythm section of bass and drums. With five horns rather than a full big band, the writing stays light on its feet. The session took place on 13 September 1967 at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs.

The opener Chili Peppers is a pulsing seven-minute Latin piece, the horns stacked tight above the rhythm. Make It Good swings lightly and is a feature for Pearson's elegant piano. On the bossa nova ballad My Love Waits (O Meu Amor Espera) Hubbard's flugelhorn takes the lead, while the slow blues Scrap Iron seems tailored to Turrentine's soulful tenor. Rotary closes the album with the fullest arrangement on the record, the soloists making their last statements over a figure that keeps turning round.

In his AllMusic review Scott Yanow called it "one of the finest recordings of Duke Pearson's career".

This is the Japanese Ultimate High Quality CD from Universal Music Japan, catalogue number UCCQ-9649, issued in 2024 with the remastering credited to Kevin Gray. It comes in a jewel case with obi strip, with the original sleeve notes reproduced on the back inlay.