The Three Sounds - Soul Symphony (Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series)

Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series 180 Gram Stereo LP

This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Series edition of Soul Symphony is stereo and all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal. The long title piece takes the whole of Side One, as it did on the original 1969 issue, and Side Two holds the four shorter pieces.

The Three Sounds formed in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1956 around pianist Gene Harris, and cut nine albums for Blue Note between 1958 and 1962. They came back to the label in the late 1960s: Coldwater Flat (1968) set the trio against the Oliver Nelson Orchestra, and Elegant Soul, the same year, began their work with producer and arranger Monk Higgins. Blue Note's history of the period notes that drummer Carl Burnett joined for the Elegant Soul sessions in September 1968 and that bassist Henry Franklin replaced founding member Andrew Simpkins after that album.

Harris, Franklin and Burnett recorded Soul Symphony at Liberty Studios in West Hollywood on August 26 to 28, 1969. Higgins composed, arranged and conducted all five pieces, writing three of them with Dee Ervin, who shares the production credit. Woodwinds, brass and strings surround the trio, with Buddy Collette on flute and alto flute, Fred Robinson on guitar, David Duke and Art Maebe on French horn, and Alex Brown, Mamie Galore and Clydie King on backing vocals.

The title piece runs nearly 26 minutes. Blue Note's notes describe "Repeat After Me" on Side Two as evoking the call and response between a Baptist minister and a congregation.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Soul Symphony

Side B

2. Repeat After Me
3. Upper Four Hundred
4. Popsicle Pimp
5. Black Sugar