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John Patton's "Soul Connection" to be released on CD


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  • 3 months later...

Hi everyone,

I'm a good friend of Alvin Queen and I'm A&R Director here at Justin Time Records.

I wanted all of you to know that John Patton's "Soul Connection" will debut on CD on June 10th,

on Just A Memory Records, distributed in the USA through Ryko Distribution.

I'm very excited about this, and I'm in fact just finalizing the package, including the original liner notes.

Which brings me to the other reason for writing today......

I transcribed the liner notes from a photocopy of the LP that someone sent me. However, I cannot make

out the NAME of the man who wrote the notes. It's "Jay" something.

Does anyone have the original vinyl, who can tell me whom to credit?

Thanks so much!

Best Regards,

Jean-Pierre Leduc, Justin Time Records, Montreal

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Thanks so much - that's wonderful and kind of you. I think it's written as "Okouté" or something.

It was the early 1980s!

Best, JPL

GREAT NEWS!!!!

As far as the liner notes are concerned, to me it looks like it's signed with his name first, followed by his creditials...

O.K. Aut'e

poet, journalist

NY editor in association

Jazz Spotlite News

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Indeed!

I think people are going to flip over this - 25 years after, and who knows how many off the market!

Best, JP

I think it's written as "Okouté"

I'm sure you're right....hard to read even on the original LP since it's all hand-written. Anyway, good luck with the CD...some of the best jazz organ ever commited to tape!

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I've been a big fan of this LP for years and have been singing it's praises as long. This was the last recording Big John made before hurting his right hand very badly in a tire-changing accident. And although he made some great albums in the 90's for DIW like "This One's for J.A."..., John never had the facility after the accident to express his ideas as fully as he did on "Soul Connection." He often lamented (although he never dwelled on it) that he wish he could "reach" for those chords he was trying to open up to around the time of the accident. Thank God for Alvin Queen making this LP initially. John's previous session as a leader was 13 years prior for Blue Note! Can you imagine! We get to see John's concept on organ leap ahead a decade and a half later...and how had he grown! Soul Connection is a masterpiece! Thanks for getting it on CD.

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Just checked my LP and, like everyone else has said, it's not clear what the the signature on the back is. I tried a Google search, and Okouté seems to come up as a French/African name - not that that helps a lot.

The important thing is that this recording will be available once again and people will have a chance to listen to it.

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This is very good news. I've had this since it came out and it's fabulous. But owning the LP won't stop me getting it on CD!

Regret that I'm no more help with the name on the sleeve.

I'm a good friend of Alvin Queen and I'm A&R Director here at Justin Time Records.

But, can't Alvin remember the guy's name?

MG

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  • 1 month later...

Yeah Jim...we're so DAMN spoiled...! Remember when Soul Connection had to be tracked down on vinyl, with burned CDs shared among other music hounds like crackheads looking for a rock that rolled under the couch! Now, these young whipper snappers just download it from iTunes in a blink of an eye. :rolleyes:

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I was able to snag a copy today at Borders' with the 40% coupon - very few of their stores in the DC area got it at all. I think someone is going to give me this for Father's day :w

I wonder if Grachan III was able to get a copy. If not, I may just get him one when I come back from vacation.

Bertrand.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Anybody who had a chance to pick this up for the first time care to share what you thought about the session?

I haven't had much of a chance to dig too deeply into it but some of it sounds similar to his work on Accent of the Blues. Which in my opinion is a good thing.

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I grabbed this off of eMusic a couple of days ago (the VBR bitrate is pretty good, somewhere close to averaging 256, I think... definitely much better than iTunes), and have only listened to it a couple of times.

First impression - I dig this album, especially the first track. I can't say I'm crazy about the arrangement of "The Coaster", but that's probably because I love the "original" arrangement so much. Each musician gets some time to spread out on the album... I don't think BJP gets enough solo space, actually.

All said, I'm glad to have this! Certainly not BJP's greatest work, but it is damn fine. Think I'll give it another listen right now!

Cheers,

Shane

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Hey it's all good...I'd definately listen to it before returning it...you might be surprised. For me, the big reason to get this CD is that it shows where John's playing was at in 1983. His style had changed somewhat since his last BN date in '73 and if you're really into BJP, it's nice to hear where he took his playing. The only downside to the record for me is that John's solo time is pretty short for being the leader. More John would have been my call as the producer, but John was nothing if not a team player on the bandstand and in the studio. The Blue Notes will always go down as John's legacy, but this is a SOLID session with great sidemen and John playing his ass off....what's not to like?

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Helen...I'd say if you're an iTunes user...blow 99 cents and download a tune, maybe the title track from Soul Connection and test the waters. I think you might dig it more than you might believe. and yeah, the Johnny Lytle stuff is cool..also the Jimmy Ponder from around the same time, but I'd say Soul Connection is WAY above those outings....

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