Recorded on June 8, 1972
Reissued on Xanadu as James Moody and the Hip Organ Trio in 1990.
This album has the distinction of being the very first record released on the Muse label. Founded by Joe Fields and Don Schlitten, Muse was an immensely important label, documenting many important jazz artists in the 1970s and beyond. Fields and Schlitten initially collaborated while working at Cobblestone Records, a subsidiary of Buddah. In 1972, they started Muse. (After a falling out in 1978, Fields and Schlitten dissolved their partnership. Fields continued to operate Muse, and Schlitten went on to found Xanadu Records. This is why several Schlitten-produced Muse LPs were subsequently reissued on Xanadu -- including this one.)
What can you say about James Moody!?!? He's one of the greats! I think he probably doesn't get the respect he deserves from fans. (Too often, he's characterized as Robin to Dizzy Gillespie's Batman.) But musicians recognize Moody's towering stature. They revere him, and rightly so.
Like all great jazzmen, Moody has a distinctive sound, a tone like no one else. It's easy to discern Moody in just a few notes. On Never Again!, Moody tackles two classics of the tenor saxophone: Sonny Rollins' "St. Thomas" and Eddie Harris' "Freedom Jazz Dance." He makes both of them his own.
Along with being the first Muse LP to see the light of day, this was also Mickey Tucker's debut on disc. He also composed three of the album's six cuts. I think Tucker is one of the unsung heroes of the 1970s. He was known primarily as a pianist, but on this release he sticks to the Hammond organ. Later in the survey, we'll explore more of Tucker's discography as a leader. He made several outstanding LPs. His work here is an indicator of excellent things to come.
More James Moody
Moody's second (and final) LP for Muse, Feelin' It Togther (1973), is another outstanding effort. And a third platter from the 1970s that any self-respecting James Moody fan needs to hear is Heritage Hum (Perception, 1972), a gorgeous LP featuring Moody's fabulous flute work.
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