Willis Jackson- At Large

Label: Prestige

Released 2000

Before signing with Prestige in 1959, Willis “Gator Tail” Jackson had made his mark as a honkin’, shoutin’, bar-walkin’ tenor man. While elements of his R&B days were at times in evidence on his many Prestige LPs, Jackson tempered his attack and moved easily into the soul-jazz bag that was so popular on uptown jukeboxes in the early-to-mid 1960s. This set is a kind of survey course in “Gatorology,” taking in selections from five albums made between January 1961 and September 1968. Jackson, with first-rate backing throughout (the sidemen include such giants as Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Burrell, and Roy Haynes), adapts his down-to-earth, big-toned approach to a variegated musical menu ranging from contemporary pop tunes to calypsos, and from boogaloos to Italian favorites to spirituals. But the main course is the soul-blues that was “Gator”’s bread and butter.

Track listing:

1. Shuckin'  
2. Cachita    
3. I Left My Heart In San Francisco
4. What Kind Of Fool Am I?  
5. Mama Inez    
6. By The Time I Get To Phoenix
7. Florence Of Arabia
8. Arrivederci Roma
9. Neapolitan Nights  
10. Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen  
11. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
12. A Twist Of Blues
13. Sweet Peter Charleston
14. Cat Meal  
15. He Said, She Said, I Said